Love, Love, Love
by IZZY-CHAN13
Summary: OC runs into the typical but harmful cycle of a possessive relationship under Shadow, much to Sonic's concern. The week preparing for the school play delves itself into sheer madness as the black hedgehog shows his true demeanor. Originated Freshman year in high school.
1. Disclaimer and Theme

Copyright Disclaimer:

Okay, as you all know, I am not affiliated with SEGA, Archie Comics, SatAM, Sonic X, or Sonic Team in any way and I do not intend to take credit for their characters, which are listed below (in no particular order):

Sonic the Hedgehog

Shadow the Hedgehog

Amy Rose

Sally Acorn

Tikal the Echidna

Ash (name changed to Ashton here…)

On the other hand there are a couple of made up characters that were made under my supervision and are mine to distribute on my own:

Sheila Sasaki (aka Isabel, IZZY. Whatever.)

Veronica Hedgehog (minor role…)

Jewel Rolan (minor role…)

© IMDC 2007- All Rights Reserved, (this is not meant to be published unless I find a loophole to go along with it nicely…)

BACKGROUND:

This story was first written during my Freshman Seminar class under Mrs. Zumbiel, as a way to pass the time when I was at the peak of my affinity for the anthropomorphic community, which was Sonic and Co. This ever since had been continued throughout the course of about 2 years and indefinitely still in progress. With other matters to worry about I could have really cared less about this. The exact date of when this story began has been misplaced, so this typed version will not contain the original introduction. (**Update: The original introduction was found but I will make no attempt to insert it into the story anyway). Sorry for the general incompetence of my being and of the masses. Also—Beware of the many typos in this fan fiction on crack. I have no intention of reprinting any pages, as it would be a complete waste of ink. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Some characters in this story—with main or minor roles—were based on real people from my life as time went by. The issues that rise within this document are experienced from reality and from observation of the people. It is basically a… high school drama if you will, without the cheerleaders and jocks frolicking about, but with so-called outcasts and the ones struggling for popularity and trying to get what they want, regardless of the cost of their actions…

Those that are wary of certain topics should read this to try to gain some sort of insight of which that I'm trying to portray within its text and dialogue. Some factors might be twisted so that it may not seem so realistic, yet this story includes the true blue hero and the cold, aloof yet handsome black and red rebel. So what's there not to love?

"Let Me Be Your Armor" by Assemblage 23 (aka Tom Shear)

Let me take the fall  
Let me take the blame  
Let me carry you from hell  
To home again.

Let me walk for you  
When your legs are weak  
Let me find the words for you  
When you can't speak

CHORUS:  
Let me be your armor  
Let me be your shield  
Let me take away the pain you feel (your armor)  
Let me be the light  
That guides your way through darkest night  
Let me be your armor.

Let me take the blows  
That were meant for you  
Let me help you with the trials  
You're going through

Let me keep you safe  
From the world outside  
Let me wipe away the tears  
That fill your eyes

(CHORUS)

Let me keep you from  
Experience you need  
Let me bind you with my selfishness  
And greed

Let me stifle you  
Let me have control  
Let me smother  
Every aspect of your soul

(CHORUS)

Let me be your armor.


	2. And So It Begins

-And So It Begins-

_~~I am the one for change, I am the lifeblood of the galaxy, I am the omni of all that was and has been…_

I am, I am, I am…~~

"I'm the preppy girl in the play _again?!_ No NEVER _EVILNESS_!!!"

From the blue the girl took out a random pencil and stabbed at the packet of paper which was laid out in front of her under the eyes of a girl who was deemed the leader.

"Well, it's what you wanted right?" At this the purple hedgehog wheeled around-

" What'd'ya say, Sally?!"

Sally Acorn crossed arms and with her baby blue eyes threw off an opposing leer at Sheila's glare, "You said you were willing to take _any_ part in the play—you even wrote it on your audition form, remember?"

Sheila then mimicked the caramel-colored hybrid squirrel's pose, "_What_ audition form??"

"_This one!"_ Sheila snatched the parchment out of the other's hand—"Hey! This isn't mine!" Her eyes darted around the room, finally setting them onto a black and red hedgehog minding his own business—

"SHADOW!! YOU _FREAKIN'_ LITTLE--!!"

"Sheila, of course I put you in there, just to make you miserable—as usual. I'm afraid that's the only way I can love you right now." Shadow sneered as the purple hedgie tried to punch him in the face, but he effortlessly blocked the blow with his open right palm. While all this was going on, however, Sally Acorn had already had already made a run from it to escape the girl's wrath.

"You little-!" Before her last word could come out of her mouth, it was immediately locked into place with the Ultimate Lifeform's. The seventeen-year-old suddenly felt herself blush—_Not now we're at school you hot bastard! XD_

Shadow peeled away his lips from hers as his face was brought together with a mischievous smile, "We should go out tonight, Sheila Sasaki. What do you think?" She hesitantly nodded a yes.

Just then, the bell for the end of 4th period rang.

*****

Sheila, still slightly pink in the cheeks, walked down the sidewalk alongside her friends Amy and Tikal, who were deeply in conversation—not noticing they were leaving her out of it. But she didn't mind, because there was something else in her mind to think about.

The pink 16-year-old hedgehog then cut into those thoughts, "Hey, Sheila, what's wrong?"

"Yes, what is the matter my friend?" asked the echidna in her strange, mythical-like accent. Sheila looked at them for a moment and then turned away,

"Nothing guys—nothing at all." She managed to bend her mouth into a crooked smile, "I'm fine guys."

Amy wasn't buying it.

"What'd'ya mean you're fine?! You've got red all over your face!" At this the purple hedgehog put her hands to her face, and a bit afterwards she laughed in the weakest manner possible.

It had only taken Amy a matter of seconds before her ears perked up and her lips curved into a sly, cunning smile,

"Oh, I get it… You had love with Shadow at school today, didn't you? You guys kissed again—I knew it!" Sheila blushed tons of bright red this time- _Dude, how could she know?! Well, if-_

"It's even worse—he asked me out on a date—nuuu…!!!" Amy took one look at her and laughed, which confused both Sheila and Tikal (who was far out in space since the first words were uttered form Amy Rose's mouth).

*****

"Well, now it's time—and that really sucks!" Sheila Sasaki thought aloud as she heard the bell ring behind her front door, and knew who it was instantaneously by the way it was rung in his honor. Through her bedroom window she caught sight of a black and crimson spiked motorcycle in front of her lawn. She sighed, took her handbag and bottle of mace (just in case) and put it in her bag before getting the door that loomed in front of her. It opened with a creek and then answered by a soft, deep yet heavily dark voice,

"You ready?" Shadow, at his full length, stood on the porch with his blood red eyes gleaming with deviance, and his features twisted into a heart-stopping mischievous and playfully evil smile…

Sheila gulped involuntarily as she took his hand, which then carefully guided her to his chariot. The black, crimson-stained hedgehog looked at the other with cautious, steady eyes,

"You're not wearing anything revealing. That's good." He commented with a criticizing tone in his voice. Sheila, confused, looked herself over—out of fear and deep understanding, knowing that she should respect Shadow's wishes no matter what. Not saying a word, both got on the cycle and sped off into the night-infested city.

They had only reached the corner of the deserted street when Sheila asked, "Where are we going?" The black hedgehog suddenly jerked the vehicle to a stop, nearly causing Sheila to fall off. He turned around and glared a moment at the shaken up girl, and then he grinned.

"We're going somewhere special…" Shadow took his index finger and held it under her chin with such dexterity as if she was a china doll. Sheila could feel herself blush, so much that she had forgotten to ask where they were going again.

"First, however, we're going to the mall—for your sake, not mine." The guy sneered and turned around in his seat again, right then the girl had caught on to what he was saying.

"Hey! _You--_!" Sheila threw a fist into Shadow's shoulder, and he began to laugh in that slow, dark brooding manner,

"Oh, God—you're weak." He turned around to look at his mate again, grabbed her around the waist and pulled her closer to him, "Don't try to hurt me, love." And with that he firmly pressed his lips against hers, making she writhe in his grasp. Sheila pushed him away, and he laughed out loud,

"All right, we'll go now!" A playful smile, and once again the motorcycle went on its way to the city.

*****

After about a half hour the couple had reached the brightly lit icy sleet-covered parking lot area, filled with rows and rows of cars. In the distance Sheila could make out a figure on the roof of the mall: Frosty the Snowman. She then stole a glance of Shadow's gleaming red eyes as he was trying to find a spot to settle in—"Damn cars—get out of the way I'm driving here, hey you old lady—move it, I got a girl here with me! Do us all a favor and move your issues off the road!!"

At this, the girl gave a slight twitch- _he shouldn't be saying that; Christmas is just three freakin' weeks away!-_ "Um, Shadow, you shouldn't be saying that." She remarked after the short-tempered hedgehog finally found a place to stop. After a moment, Shadow had turned around to look at Sheila again; it seemed that he looked at her; Sheila had always felt that she was in sudden danger. Sensing insecurity, the male hedgehog helped the girl off the motorcycle in a very gentleman-like way, "We're here…" He hugged Sheila, seemingly never wanting to part from that position. The purple hedgehog blushed a hot pink once more. Then after about five minutes, the two hedgehogs parted from their grasp and walked towards the foggy glass doors of the mall, hand in hand… side by lovely side.

"Unfortunately", as soon as they had reached the other side of the door handle, the couple was taken out of their trance when they heard a jovial voice coming only five feet in front of them, "HEY- What's up, Lovebirds?!" Shadow gave a low growl, "Sonic??" while Sheila gave a small smile at the 'newcomer'.

Before the two knew it, the blue hedgehog had already been talking up a careless storm by the next entrance while they were walking around the mall, annoying Shadow all the while,

"So how are 'yas today? Lovey Dovey still, man??"

"Love 'ya, Sheila- love 'ya a lot but I can't have you or else Blackie's gonna pummel me so hard I won't even need to finish-

"But then again I'm too fast for him to be caught in the first place-

"Man I rock!"

"When are you guys gonna get married already??"

"I want to be the best man, Man! No one else- just me!!"

"'Ya guys want a chili dog? On me fellas! All on my bill!"

The black hedgehog raged by the end of their "peaceful" little store-viewing escapade—"_SHUT UP! Just _please_- SHUT UP!! _" At this Sheila cringed and gave a glance at Sonic, who understood that it was best to cut it and leave.

"Okay, Shadow—I know you guys have plans for the night," giving a wink towards the girl, which the other hedgehog noticed, twitching abruptly. _First strike…_

"Just hope to see you guys again soon- school probably. Heh heh," messing with the girl's violet-red quills, much to her content. The black hedgehog then balled his hands into tight fists, eyes narrowing dangerously. _Second strike…_

"See you guys later- all right?" The blue hedgehog's emerald eyes glimmered as he gave a quick friendly hug to Shadow (who pushed him away, but he didn't notice), then gave one to Sheila—but for some reason, it lasted longer than it should have—longer than the Ultimate Lifeform would allow. _Third strike!_

Shadow then went berserk—"You little _son of a- you—stop it!—Let go of her DAMMIT!!!"_ He pushed Sonic to the ground, outwardly cursing in front of a petrified crowd. The girl at this point was so shocked and infuriated that she without thinking helped him up and whirled around to give the black hedgehog a sharp slap that sounded to the end of the hall.

"Agh!" Taking his hand up to his cheek to find a slight burning sensation, he pulled Sheila by the arm, "You _bitch!!"_His eyes flared with Satan's fire as Shadow threw his mate to the floor with a loud _CRACK!_ How the girl was still able to function, no one knows. And Sonic, still shaken by the blow, caught a quick glimpse of the hedgehog's now heavily shadowed features, showing pure evil in his wild, crooked, horrid sneer. Shadow's whole eyes became a blood red…

Sonic had already seen this form of the black hedgehog before, whenever he was thrown into fits of extreme anger, anxiety or angst. Demon Shadow was clearly not a creature to be trifled with, having jagged pointed and sharp protrusions emerging from his body. And Sonic knew—then and there—that Isabel was in danger when he saw her sprawled out as a mutilated fan, blood trickling from the back of her head and a throbbing pain in the front. Sheila tried to sit up, grimacing when she put her hand to the mark. Then looking up, she saw Devil's child, and it grinned. "I'm sorry, _Love_."

Then with a death-defying blow, the force from the demon's energized hands sent her flying toward the far wall of the mall, right above JC Penney's, along with a sharp blood-curdling scream_—"ISABEL!!!"_Sonic quickly formed into his spin dash and stuck at Demon Shadow's side,

_"NNGH!!" _Still being on his emotional drug, he caught the blue hedgehog's quills in mid spin and threw the wonder clear across and through the window of the Hot Topic store, that brought on a series of many shrieks and screams of followed by a rampage of teens and their parents running out of the store entrance, with many of their faces cut and slashed with the glass that flew through the area. At the far end lay a crumpled heap of scarlet-matted blue fur… "nghh…" the hedgehog got up, collapsing once more, but managed to get to his knees, placing his hands on the floor for support… "Isabel- she's not safe…" a pain jutted at his sides—"I have to help her," the pain worsened causing every part of his body to become numb—"Oh God dammit…!" He collapsed on the floor again, his whole body throbbing with pain—_if only I had a chaos emerald… a ring of some sort …_ And with that the usual victor fainted on the cold stained surface of the dim lighted room…

*****

---------------------------------------------

AUTHOR'S NOTE- REMEMBER HERE NOW PEOPLE'S I STARTED THIS FIC BACK IN FRESHMAN YEAR- GETS BETTER I PROMISE!! (I go FTW at this..)


	3. The Aftermath: Beauty and the Beast

-The Aftermath: Beauty and The Beast-

The hospital walls were smeared with whitewash paint, giving off a smell of disinfectants and something that seemed like ammonia, whatever it was. Medicine bags attached to plastic tubes were scattered around everywhere and those were attached to complicated looking equipment boxes with many knobs and buttons to choose from, and on the bed below lay a heaving blue mass- Sonic.

The hedgehog got up into an abrupt sitting position, and as he did so an abrupt twinge shot through his pulsating veins. He let out a cry of immense pain, and collapsed on the hospital bed again, breathing shallowly. _Where am I?? _From his laying position he caught glimpses of a closed-in room with a single bay window facing the eastern side, the sun had only shown off its rays into the blotchy yellow-orange and blue-green sky. It was rarely turning into solemn dawn. From a room nearby a television set was turned on loud, and Sonic eventually heard the voices of actors from soap operas mindlessly discussing of some high school reunion and some dance… _Whatever- I don't have time for this- she's in danger after all!_ He attempted to get up again, but before he could even lift his head an inch, a young red-haired with high cheekbones and calm green eyes came into the room, dressed in all white. She smiled when she saw the hedgehog alive and well, "I see you're awake." Sonic shot upright, trying to ignore the needles within him, pricking everywhere, "Where's my friend?!" The nurse then blinked, and pointed at another bed in the room. Sonic gasped.

There within the light bed sheets and blankets, lay a feeble, weakened and a terribly conditioned 17-year-old human, with her long curly brown hair all tousled about—practically half of it covering her heavily scarred and bruised Hispanic face.

"_Isabel!!_" Sonic screamed aloud as he once again tried to get up only to be pushed down by the remarkably strong nurse, "Stay calm." _Well how can I be calm when she's just laying there?! I—_Shadow's sudden appearance cut into Sonic's train of thought as the black hedgehog walked into the room, carrying a large bouquet of blood red roses. All of a sudden the blue one screamed and swore frantically then attempted again and again to get out of his bed- every time being pinned down by the nurse- kicking and yelling and screaming, then finally being able to tear away from her grasp and the tubes and wires buried deep into his skin, causing the medical liquid along with his own blood to splatter everywhere—

"YOU GET AWAY FROM HER, SHADOW! LEAVE HER ALONE—YOU _BASTARD!!_" Finally free of the woman's hold, sonic lunged for Shadow's throat. Shadow smiled as he dodged the mad hedgehog's hands before the struck. Sonic's eyes widened- _I missed! _In a matter of seconds Sonic was thrown onto his bed where he screamed in shock—Right there, in front of his very eyes—he saw the demonic hedgehog press his lips to the human's passionately…

… And she was kissing back.

*****

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Author Note: Holy... What??!! (ha ha wires and tube things got out of his skin and he bleeds more lol) Nurse image came by with those age-old cartoons that I used to watch (still do) when I was a kid.. Is my character an idiot or what?? :D (Sarcasm gets really heavy as well as the dark edge to this fanfic so keep reading)


	4. The Aftermath: Feelings

-The Aftermath: Feelings-

The room's walls were covered with many posters of popular 80s' and 90s' bands, and all were fading away from existence as their edges smoldered and curled due to the work of the sun shining through. Today, however, the sun's rays where nowhere to be seen. Darkness had taken over Sonic's personal habitat, with the hedgehog just sulking there, pondering over the past events not too long ago…

"Damn… (ow!)" He clutched at his broken arm, flung over by a cast to support the bone that was damaged to—"Shadow, you idiot." Talking to no one in particular, "Wh- Why do you take her in your arms like no goddamned thing ever happened? How could you do that to her---!" Enraged, the blue hedgehog grabbed at one of his many racing trophies with his good arm from the musty shelves and threw it against the wall—"Dammit!!" It made contact and shattered into a million pieces- little by little did the golden shards fall, its rhythmic clangs adjoined with the clasp of thunder and a flash of lightning, and the rain began to pour… Sonic stared at the wall with deadened eyes, and a rattle from the door gave him impulse to flinch.

"Come in." a hoarse whisper.

In gangly elegance, a purple female hedgehog came into the room, "Sonic?"

The boy stared wide-eyed at the girl, and intimate thoughts crept into his mind. He knew that Amy liked him a lot in that manner, but somehow he seemed more attracted to the casual beauty looming over him. Why?

"Um, you okay, Sonic? You seem—pale." She crouched down next to him. On her head was a bandage wrapped around the skull, "Shadow's fine. And… he says that he's sorry for what he did to us."

At this, Sonic glared the other way, "What are you saying?! He's a liar _dammit!! "_ He brought his fist forward and smashed it into the same stained wall. Blood trickled from the impact as he brought it back to his side, much to Sheila's alarm, who had known Sonic to be typically laid-back—"Sonic what's wrong with you?!" Grabbing at his shoulder in question, the boy gave out a low growl, still facing the opposite way,

"He doesn't care about you at all!"

Sonic took a glance at his skinned fist before slowly turning his head to face Sheila, "Isabel, I- that is…" taking a deep breath, "I'm just glad you're okay." He raised up his red-rimmed eyes, tears filling the nook. The girl's heart skipped a beat. In a matter of seconds the male hedgehog had possession of her right hand and brought it level to his bare chest, and her face only a few precious seconds away from his. Isabel blushed absentmindedly as Sonic gave a soft kiss on her cheek, way too close to where Shadow would rub his lips against, "I'm sorry that he did this to you." A lump caught in his throat as he brought her closer and brushed his lips against hers, not as gentle as last time, barely giving the girl a chance to think about what he meant but caught on at the last second,

"Stop it, Sonic." Sheila pushed the boy hesitantly while he tried to have more physical intimacy with her. "We can't have this happen again, you know that."

"…Know what?" Tears fell from his depressed self onto nothing, which he felt for a longer time than he had wanted to. He managed to get back into reality with the aid disturbing flashbacks of the past year, still shaking, traumatized from the last time he tried to have this girl as his own.

"He'll kill you!"

*****

-----------------------------------------

((Author Fun))

Sonic: ... Wow... it's... odd... Yeah

Shadow: Behold the ongoing pathetic fallacies!!

Author: Yeah... *fantasizes outta habit*


	5. School Again

-School Again-

Shadow didn't pay any attention to the jeers and glances that the students gave him, still brooding over a matter. It wasn't until 1st period that someone randomly came up to him and asked, "Are ya gonna be sent to Juvi or what??" A smirk played on an armadillo's face. The black hedgehog gave him the death glare, hidden by indifference, and placed a strong hand on the kid's shoulder, "If you want to stay up to see the sun, then better not dare question me. Understand?"

A crooked smile chilled the bones of the young Mobian, but he still went on, " Ya tryin' to threaten me?! I'm gonna tell on you, fool!" With silent rage, Shadow threw the armadillo across the hall where he slid around 20 feet on his armored back. Some students laughed at this scene, while most of the expressions on freshmen shone with fear and outrage, all glaring at the hedgehog with vengeful eyes. Not paying attention to their reactions, Shadow walked into his class, leaving the armadillo to fend for himself, "Could somebody get me up?! Please??"

All throughout the day the same images kept on revolving around in the black hedgehog's mind, just torturing him up to the point of insanity, and all he could muster in the self-talk under his breath was, "Sonic, you little son-of-a-bitch!"

…When he arrived home he came back up to his room after a while and threw his pack and other luggage on the floor carelessly, never caring about his studies. He then threw himself on the bed and stretched himself as far out as he could before mindlessly looking up at the ceiling and 'drawing' pictures on the ceiling. In his current state of emotional stability, the hedgehog reached for his dresser and pulled out a slightly dusted drawing pad, opening it to a bookmarked page. The image on it was that of a girl, bare naked, with watery innocent eyes looking up at a mysterious figure above her. Her face was twisted into a quiet fear and solemn reverence. The hedgehog smiled as he took a pencil and added the feminine touches to the body and blended imperfections together, so that it would give off a dim glow…

"Heh.." After fantasizing out of habit, Shadow then soon drifted off to a deep sleep. Not long after a silhouetted figure came into the room, tip-toeing through the doorway to where the sleeping boy was, mindlessly tripping over what seemed to be a heavy object, and laid down beside him. Taking notice of the pencil sketch, she took it up to her face and gave a twitch before setting it back, covering her bright red face as if he was awake. She gave a hesitant wrap around the hedgehog's legs with hers, and thrust herself in for a millisecond. Right after, she got up and made a stealthy getaway through Shadow's bedroom window. After climbing down, Amy wiped off a bit of perspiration on her forehead before jogging out to the sidewalk to look for her friends.

*****

"Like, OMG—the girl like totally kissed so many guys this year—and what's really a bummer is that most of them were super hot! H-O-T-T HOT!!" Sheila gagged voluntarily after this line.

"STOP! CUT! OFF THE SET!!" Sally marched right up to the girl,

"_Hello _this is supposed to be a _play_ not a _chick flick!_"

Sheila blinked, "Wha??" her senseless response. There was an immediate whack on the side of her head—"OW!! What the hell did you do that for??!" she growled.

Sally Acorn simply shook her head and gave a deep withering sigh, "I don't know how you made it to become an actress in the first place," taking her hands to rub her temples, "The play is coming up Friday next week and you can't even pull yourself together yet?!" At this the female hedgehog began to fume, balled up her fists, and after a while let them go. She gave a small smile, and as she was told, walked off the stage. Not too far away, there was a multitude of jeers coming from downstage. Sally merely waved her arms around to the rest of the crew, "Let's start it from the top!"

*****

"So what's eating you?? Squirrel got your tongue?" Amy gave an innocent little giggle as she and the other two were walking down the lane. Sheila turned to face her and gave a random cocky smile before reverting back to her depression state, looking down at the concrete. Tikal, usually the quiet one, let her voice be heard,

"What's wrong Sheila, friend of mine?" The female echidna gave a slight wince as the purple hedgehog gave her almost a menacing look before she separated from them and whisked around the corner of the sidewalk.

"What's the matter with her??" was Amy's crass remark as Sheila left the scene, leaving behind a concerned air around Tikal's pure aura.

*****

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Author Notes: Okay so, Drama was never the greatest thing that happened in my life. As a matter of fact I ended up hating it. Not the class, but the people in the class *bitch whine bitchy whining* Sophomore year was the worst..

Wanna know why? Keep reading for a while and you'll find out! :P (Oh and just to make it clear I respect Tikal with every fiber in my being. Amy? Well, it's a grudging like/despise relationship I'll give you that. In the world of canon I'd totally support SonAmy... But this ain't canon, apparently ^^;)


	6. Monday

-Monday-

The weekend went away as soon as it came for the students of Avalon High, and it was apparent in the sea of lethargic and drunken juniors and seniors—with Sonic and the gang being part of the Senior class. Otherwise, the freshmen and sophomores, being immature and impatient as they were, couldn't wait for the upcoming holidays. However, the play coming up the same week meant hell on earth for the Drama club, which went up in a riot. Two period classes passed by while its members were hard at work in the dingy PAC, trying to spiff it up for the show's spectators.

"Places, people! It's time to brush up on what we have to do on Performance Night—stage crew, set up for First Act on the double!" Sally reached her hand across the room to find a wandering hedgehog, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her near, only to mutter this inside the girl's ear,

"You think you're ready, Isabel?" For some reason, this came out to be a surprise to the violet creature, _she sounded nice for once…_ Sheila was sure that she was dreaming.

"Are you ready??" a question that snapped her out of the daydream.

"Oh! I believe I am, Sally." She was trying her hardest not to spill a nasty remark. And even if she did, Isabel could not feel any joy afterwards. By the time the urge slipped away her thoughts had already taken over her mind again… wondering about what her boyfriend could be up to, after brutally injuring her about 2 weeks ago. It seemed hard to believe that she really fell in love with him in Freshman year:

~~It was Registration Day for the class of '10, Frosh class on a Thursday. It was rarely evening, 6:00 at the most… it was in the designated Registration Room where the girl first laid eyes on that boy: The creature with then short, upward pointed black and red quills; those subtle, unforgiving ruby red eyes, and that youthful, mischievous look to him that almost made Isabel's knees shake after walking into the building, not accompanied by her parents, but by an appointed guardian, a foster mother, rather. The girl had been separated from her parents long ago, which caused her to undergo dramatic physical and psychological changes. Being under the care of a world-class criminal organization really did her in, and silently did she escape the clutches of the company, only to be taken in as an orphan by the local shelter not too far from the town of Avalon.

Even then Sheila, then adopted to continue studies, did not feel comfortable with her foster parent. Later it was obvious that the mother felt the same way about her. Halfway through freshman year the lady committed suicide. Up to now Isabel could not get out the vivid image of a hanging, lifeless, pale body in the middle of the living room, in complete view for all the residents to stare at and widen their eyes in sheer horror. The neighbors claimed the block to be cursed as it held over 15 suicidal attempts in the last three years and packed their bags and moved out of the residence. The landowner condemned the neighborhood to be defiled, but for some odd reason let it stand after a single pleading call from the freshman girl. A few months passed after that incident and the sanctity of the block residence was restored to order. In that time Isabel had made new friends and learned to live a life on her own. Halfway through the second term she had become well acquainted with both the blue blur and the black Lifeform, with both later on revealing their inner feelings for her. Time passed and it was evident that by the end of Junior year, Shadow the Hedgehog had become her undying love and lover. He had professed his love to her with no strings attached for months, but then things had started top change… Isabel could no longer be allowed to wear anything revealing and was rarely allowed to approach any other guy besides him, for anything. The girl had merely excused this abnormal behavior as a form of his childish obsession and infatuation to be with her always, "only the jealousy-clingy factor," she claimed, "it'll go away eventually," she told everyone on campus who eyed her strangely, "this happens all the time in relationships—I've noticed—nothing to be worried about…" ~~

The young amateur actress was thrown back into current reality as the dent in her skull began to throb violently; she massaged her bandaged head but it only made the pain even worse. Her yelps of suffering were overridden by the end-of-lunch bell shrieking across all the hallways and the outdoor quad of the campus, and directly into the PAC.

"Well then, that's a wrap for now guys!" Sally yelled excitedly over the din, "Remember that we're rehearsing after school today people! See you _all _there!" Sheila was sulking out of the building with the weight of rocks on top of her, wincing all the while, when the hybrid girl yelled contently to her, "I'd better see you too, Sasaki!"

Isabel turned around, and showed a quick smile before running out towards the main building to make sure that she wouldn't be late to next class.

*****

Psychology, 3rd period class… Sheila sat in her seat in the back of the room, next to the blue hedgehog. His lime green eyes received a share of glowing back, and his mouth barely lifted a smile before she turned around to acknowledge her loyal companion, "How are you today, Sonic?" The girl gave the boy a poke at his good right shoulder and grinned innocently, causing the guy to blush involuntarily. He gave a slight smirk and turned himself around to take out his binder and supplies.

The teacher, Mr. Blevins, walked up to the front of the room, seizing everyone's attention before stating, "Time to turn in your essays on the difficulties and wonders of the human mind. Also, prepare yourself for a short and easy quiz based on the essay itself."

Sonic scoffed aloud, "Ha—an easy quiz, eh?"

The whole class began to giggle in unison, and before any of them could've been stifled, the dictator walked to Sonic's desk and said aloud, "Young man, I have had enough of you—See me ten after three today."

The boy smirked, "You mean 3:10 _pm_, right?" More laughter. Mr. Blevins grit his human teeth and plainly stated, "Don't fuss with me, boy." On his way back to the front of the room the man lowered his face down to Isabel's ear and whispered, "And you see me _right after _school, you hear? After open 4th for you." He paced up to the board and clapped his hands, "I need those finished essays, people!"

Sonic then leaned towards the girl's ear and questioned, "What'd he say to ya?"

Isabel put on a confused expression and shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno."

*****

As soon as the end of 3rd period bell rang, the students rushed out of their rooms; very few had to run to their 4th period, as most in the hallway were seniors, and they already had all the credits needed to graduate, anyway. For them, including Isabel, slowly wandered off into the crowded hallway whereas a blue blur whizzed off to the other direction, accidentally knocking down a couple of sophomores on his way to his English class.

The girl's mind had begun to wander off again as she sulked toward the so-called break room, where empty rows of desks were lined along the sides, leaving a broad space in the middle to face an old, stained whiteboard and a worn out wooden desk. Usually when she walked in she would catch a glimpse of Sally Acorn sitting on top of the teacher's desk, looking over the play script. Sally wasn't here this time. There were only two people in particular: In one corner sat a depressed-looking Shadow, and in the front of the room was a guy mindlessly pacing around the room lost in his own thoughts: A yellow hedgehog sporting a black formal vest over a long-sleeved dress shirt with cuffs, cordially pressed and ironed brownish-olive green-looking pants complete with belt, and black spic-and-span dress shoes, shined to perfection. Messy black hair was combed but still fell a bit over his eyes, which were outlined with horn-rimmed glasses, giving him the intellectual, charismatic look that some girls would go for.

Isabel gave a wave to awake Ashton out of his trance, "Hey Herald." Ashton finally looked in her direction and gave a business-like grin, "Hello Sheila, nice seeing you today." He then walked out of the room like nothing was ever there to greet him.

"…Typical Drama King." Isabel snarled under her breath.

By now Shadow would be at her side, defending her in some way, but he just sat in the corner, looking down at the smooth polished marble surface in front of him. Sheila silently walked over to the desk in front of him and slowly slumped herself down. Shadow's ears perked up for a millisecond before resuming his lethargic trance, staring into nothingness… "Shadow?"… By this time of day the sun was already in the western sky, away from the view of the bay window, giving the room a heavily monotonous tone. Everything seemed to be at a standstill…

The female hedgehog extended her arm to his clammy, wet cheek—she gave a small gasp from a mixture of sympathy and astonishment as the boy raised his eyes level to hers, clouded in tears.

She could not help to ask. "W-why… why're you crying?" Long, deep, and heart wrenching silence… For the rest of 4th there was nothing said, and both looked in different directions… a heavy fog covered their very existence… and out of the dull came a sinister leer that was never noticed.

*****

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Blevins?" The girl walked into Psychology class, unaccompanied once again.

"Yes I did, Miss Del Castillo." The girl was about to settle herself in a nearby desk. "You don't have to sit in for this, sweetie." The teacher gave a silly grin, and Sheila simply gave a short, embarrassed laugh- "Eh heh."- and resumed a standing position. Mr. Blevins paced around the front of the room for a while before talking in his slow walk,

"I see that you have been having problems lately," He hesitantly jabbed at the bandaged skull, causing the girl to recoil with pain and force a tight smile. The teacher didn't notice, "What did happen that day, may I ask?"

Sheila opened her mouth to speak, "I g—

"And don't give me the story you told during class."

He caught her on the tongue, and Isabel was taken aback—_How did he know it wasn't true?!—_She herself caught on and took a deep sigh,

"I got this from…" the teacher waiting patiently, intently listening to everything that was to come. "… I got this from the mall… Sunrise Mall, from someone I knew…" taking everyone's confidentiality into consideration, "Everything was fine until another friend of mine pissed him off… and then he attacked him and I— Here she blew off any guilt that was left over only to send her speech rate skyrocketing! "So-then-I-helped-him-get-up-and-_hit_-the-guy-that-I-was-with-and-then-he-got-_so-mad_-at-me-that-he-went-on-and_-maimed-us-both_-until-we-had-_no-idea-_what-was-going-on-_until-this-happened-to-me!!"_The entire time her arms were flying in hysteria and her face flushed a bright red, making the teacher give an amused laugh.

He nodded his head in understanding, "I see then. You mentioned a _guy_ during all this, did you not?" A pang of newfound guilt swept through the girl's complexion as she swallowed down something hard down her sore throat; she had let it slip. There was no way to improvise out of this one: her own feelings had taken over her pathetic reasoning.

The teacher cleared his throat, "Is it possible, that I qualify you for a teen life reformation program. It seems that you've gotten yourself in an abusive relationship going on between you and my class delinquent," Isabel raised her hoarse voice to speak—"and no I don't mean the boy who's almost due in ten seconds" He looked at the clock above their heads on the north wall.

It took less than 2 seconds to realize what Mr. Blevins had just suggested, and the girl _was not _planning to go through that process _again_! Her face contorted from frozen shock to sudden pure livid anger—

--_ "I DON'T NEED A FUCKIN' PSYCHATRIST TO __GET IN THE WAY__ OF __MY LIFE__!!!"--_

She rushed to the door of the of the classroom in a wild attempt to get out to the hallway, only to run into Sonic's bare chest—_"oof!"_

"Young man you button up your shirt _right this instant!!" _yelled Mr. Blevins; the boy hesitantly buttoned it up, looking down at the girl in front of him. A second of sustained confusion and Isabel ran past him and sprinted down the hallway—cursing under each breath she took—_"Godammit goddammit goddammit!!"_

The walked into the hallway, leaving the boy in the room, "_Del Castillo!!_ Come back!" was his worrisome cry.

The male hedgehog stared after him, and then took a seat in his assigned desk.

*****

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AUTHOR NOTE: In the midst of everything I have to say that the whole seeing-a-therapist deal makes me frustrated. I think I've been recommended to go see one about 7 times in my life, and I've always said "no". (I'm actually quite open about the whole depression subject for some reason) :D

Oh and that character, Ashton Herald... or Ash... ah, quite representative of someone in Sophomore year. (Despite events he's human flawed just like everyone else like me)

Keep reading please, and review if you want! ;)

Sonic: You should _really_ go and get some help, seriously!

Author: What'd the hell did I just explain?! |D


	7. Tuesday

-Tuesday-

In just 3 days Christmas would be here, and everyone on campus was going on a shopping spree to search for last-minute presents for their friends and family. Among all these shoppers at the Galleria Mall—

"Oh my gosh look at that! Oh- isn't it pretty?!" Amy took out from the lingerie a silky pink low-cut dress with a brooch pinned to one side of it, in the shape of a rose. Sheila stuck her tongue out in disgust, "It's pink." Amy Rose postured herself erect and placed her hands on her hips with attitude, "So?? What does that have to do with the fact that it's cute and fun to wear?"

Tikal piped up, "Well Sheila, I do quite agree with Amy's opinion—it is a rather exotic dress—maybe you'll like it if you wore it for once." The echidna was greeted by Isabel's deadpan look, and she began to cower ever so slightly.

"No I am not gonna wear that dress." Amy nudged the purple hedgehog on the side, "Oh come on it'll be fun!" Sheila pulled another face of disgust and threw her head back in a howl, "NO!!" It was Amy's turn to jump, "Girl what's wrong with you today??" another gut-wrenching blank stare, more like a glare. Amy shifted nervously from side to side, her eyes flittering every which way, and then looking up with an innocent little smile,

"Well how about we make a stop at the Food Court then? I'm sure your anger just means you're hungry!" At this Sheila gave an inward snarl and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling, muttering under her breath, glad that Amy didn't suspect anything—or so she thought.

"What'll you want, girls?" asked the lady at the cash register. Tikal cocked her head for a moment, blankly staring at the expansive Panda Express menu overhead, unsure of what kung pao or orange chicken actually was! Her eyes began to twitch and spun for about a minute before absentmindedly walking out of the line and into a wall, "ouch!" Large sweat drops ran down Amy and Sheila's heads, and the cashier merely shifted her eyes back to them, "And what'll you want then?"

The trio sat at the table, pecking at the food while chattering away, with an annoyed violet hedgehog scarfing her portion down, making people around them turn their faces away in disgust.

"What? I'm just eating—that's not a crime is it?"

Amy gave a sideways glance, "Well it is if you eat like a pig." Sheila gave a low growl before resuming eating away at her meal. Tikal smiled faintly and prodded at her spring roll, talking to herself, "What strange food this is!"

A matter of seconds passed before one of the girls spoke up,

"Say, do you think this dress will get Sonic to fall for me again?" Amy showed the dress again. Tikal nodded her head while Sheila rolled her eyes, "I guess it's ok…" The pink hedgehog took a nudge at her shoulder, "I'm sure if _you_ wore it Shadow would come _crawling_ to you!" she laughed out loud while the other two exchanged small glances; a tinge of pink on Isabel's cheeks that went away as quickly as it came,

"I don't think he will." _He's already been chasing after me, but not lately though—_"Girl, why not?? I mean he must love you for some reason besides the fact that you hung out with him since Freshman year—I bet now you guys are legal…" Amy mused, giving a knowing look towards the other two. Sheila's food caught in her throat and she began to choke, violently gesturing Tikal towards a glass of water. The liquid was gulped down in time for the girl to respond to the other's conclusion,

"That's not true!" Isabel coughed—"I'm positive that he likes me for who I am!" And at this Amy rolled her eyes, "He only likes you because you're a girl—you're the opposite gender! Do you know what I'm talking about here, Sheila?"

The quarrel between the pink and the violet hedgehog worsened, leaving Tikal in the middle nibbling at her meager snack while other customers pretended not to hear anything, continuing on with their own conversations—

Sheila stood upright, knocking her chair down in the process causing the others around them to flinch—"Look, I don't care what you're trying to pull here but I'll make sure not to fall for any of it, Amy Rose!"

At this the prep shrieked, "What 's the matter with you lately?!" Sheila's hand slammed down on the table as she wrapped it around her black purse, fondling within it to find the keys—

"'Ya wanna know what my problem is?! It's _you_, Rose!!" The gangly girl swiveled around, leaving Amy and Tikal in the dust—"I gotta go! LATER!!" She stormed off towards the closest exit while the spectators covered their heads, as if in fear of getting smacked around the head by the angry teenager.

Amy looked after her, with her eyes leveled down to a dark forest green—a livid glare. Once her eyes met Tikal's confused ones they quickly converted back to their original shade.

"Where do you want to go after this Tikal??"

*****

Isabel parked her car in a skewed position in the practically empty lot. Slamming the car door into place she darted off towards the PAC, only to be greeted by a female figure leaning against the steel pole, her foot repeatedly tapping the ground. With arms crossed Sally raised her voice-

"So now where have you been Sheila Sasaki?!" The other girl opened her mouth to speak but instead was grabbed by the arm and dragged into the building, with the head bumping into the wall making her writhe in pain.

"Injured or not you are still going to act—now I'm thinking that you should cover that up with a wig I brought you—you don't want people trying to come backstage and asking what's wrong with you they shouldn't care…" Throughout Sally's rant the actress merely closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with her free hand, knowing that Sally was going to verbally abuse her anyway.

By the time she arrived at the Green Room the rest of the actors were already prepared and currently talking in their little groups. Among them was Ashton, in a pose of perfection and being as charismatic as usual. He was making casual jokes that made no sense to the purple hedgehog, even after the rest of them were laughing their heads off. Rolling her eyes visibly she sulked towards the clothing rack and found her outfit representing a total girly prep, reminding her of how Shadow got her to have this accursed role in the act…

"Hey—Sheila," The girl spun around to meet the formal adapt student, a senior also,

"Yeah—Ashton—what is it?" She gave a bit of a smirk. "I was meaning to ask you earlier—why are you late today? Don't you know that your act comes in second after mine?" Isabel could've sworn that question had double meaning in it! The girl's curled up lips fell into a frown; she was half-hoping that for once she would have an actual conversation with someone in the Drama Club. This was ridiculous! Her eyes gave a solemn leer,

"What's it to you??" She tilted her head upward, and the reaction that she got was not what she expected. With a calm air, the boy stated, towering over the girl, "I was only wanting to know. You didn't have to yell at me, Isabel." The other actors ignored this entire thing and Ashton Herald strutted towards them with a pack of oddly shaped cards in his hand, "Who wants to play Poker, people?!" They all surrounded the nearby table waiting for the cards to be dealed as Sheila glared against the wall and walked into the bathroom down the hall, costume in hand.

*****

It was funny that Ashton hadn't made a comeback throughout the rest of the practice session, but for annoyance decided to bother Sheila afterwards.

The female hedgehog was on her way to her car when he caught up to her and she spun around, "Whatdya want--!" Ashton had stopped running, "Why were you late, Isabel?!" The girl clenched her teeth, grinded them together and yelled out, "Why ya want to know Herald?? It's not your business all right?!"

It was his turn to make a remark—"Of course it's _my business—_as producer _and_ actor in the play _I'm_ supposed to get rid of any problems when they arise—We're only a couple of days away from the play and it doesn't seem that you're ready yet—Why, you forgot an entire line at the beginning of the act! And we had to start over!" Isabel didn't know how this guy was able to keep his volume in check so well—

"We only had to start over from that line, Herald! You're just overreacting!!" This reply was immediately hushed with another dominating height difference. Ashton spoke in a harsh whisper, "You just go home now—you don't know what you mean by overreacting—I'm the producer of this scene and I know exactly what I'm telling you, ignoramus." With this the male senior whisked off in search for his own vehicle, leaving a fuming purple animal behind. "That son of a --!!""

In vain the girl pushed down her negative thoughts pointing daggers at the guy and unwillingly opened the car and hopped into her seat, all the while fighting off the urge to backing up wildly and running over the drama king in the process. She put the car into ignition and muttered under her breath, "I'm not an ignoramus dammit!"

*****

"Her eyes are ebony twisted with maroon, her lips thick with crystal dew, her neck long and slender traveling down her strong shoulder blades, and deeper into her complexion and physical beauty—her breasts that gently cupped into my hands are whole and creamy…"~

Shadow recited the rest of the ode dedicated to his lover in a classy yet obscene fashion as the warm water from the showerhead above him rolled onto his fully naked body—refreshing and revitalizing every inch of him. He let out a slow, pleasuring moan as his hands traveled down to his chest and onto the organ that just begged endlessly to meet up with its counterpart—

"Soon," Shadow's eyes looked up to the mist above him, his crooked smile softened, making his entire expression so heavenly it could make any girl melt. The boy gave another moan mixed with a deep sigh, "…soon, she'll be here with me… "

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Author: Holy shit fanservice!! *drool!*

Shadow: This seems oddly... familiar

Rayman: "You're a sex bomb!" *punched by Sonic, causing French Freak to cry! :*

Sonic: No referencing to **hentai scene # 4!! **Stop teasing the audience! That scene will _never_ be on this site. **EVUR!**

Timmy's Dad: *gasp!* He spelled "ever" wrong! Oh but he can spell _"Dinkleburg"_ just fine!!


	8. Wednesday

-Wednesday-

An overshadowed Senior, hunched down, sulked within the crowded halls of Avalon High: 2nd floor. Sheila was once again on her way to her 3rd period class, usually by the time she got there Sonic would have already settled down in his seat, but this time—

"Hey, Izzy!" The blue creature caught at the girl's shoulder with his right arm, "Just be happy I didn't break my writing arm—I would have been failin' Psych by now!" Out of nowhere the girl couldn't help but laugh,

"But you're already failing!" Her mouth cracked into a big smile, and Sonic's eyes glittered mischievously as he gave a sneer of his own before abruptly grabbing under the girl's butt and whizzing down the hall—"Ha ha!!" At this rude action Isabel yelled after him—"Get back her ya _idiot!_" Then as fast as she could she ran off after the well-known class clown towards their class—

The two threw themselves into their desks and laughed hysterically, receiving odd stares from the class and Mr. Blevins himself. Sonic ceased his self-humor and wiped away the tears caused by the joke,

"So, did that make you feel any better Iz??"

Sheila giggled and went pink at the cheeks before answering, "Heh heh, you have no idea, cutie!"

*****

"Open 4th again, joy." The boy delinquent gave a playful punch at the 'smart' girl when they walked out of the classroom and into the infested hallway. Sheila rolled her eyes and twitched vividly. Luckily Sonic didn't notice this as he ran off to his class on the 1st floor, leaving her behind to once again sulk over to the rec room. Like she had anywhere else to go. But then she stopped in her tracks and thought, _For the past couple weeks that guy has given me nothing but the cold shoulder, and I don't need to be in the rec room if I don't want to. In fact I have the entire school to hang out in, and I don't have to be inside either!_

At this idea Isabel beamed, and in a flash ran down the now empty hallway and gingerly walked down the stairs along the railing. In a matter of minutes she had reached the back entrance, opened the glass doors and let the fresh air of the garden go through her lungs and out again in a deep, elongated breath, "Finally, my work pays off!"

For a while she strolled through the plethora of flowers and delicate trees, taking in their scent despite the fact that they were covered by a paper-thin layer of ice, as was the concrete below her feet. In fact, the sky, bright as it was, had large clouds that had not conjoined together yet, thus casting a shower of light upon the fountain ahead. It was suddenly apparent. Christmas was only 2 days away, and as usual Sheila didn't even bother to purchase any presents for her friends, having the personal belief that deep friendship, love and trusting was all they needed. The stray thought wandered off when the girl made her way towards the granite rim of the great water bowl, with a tall yet comforting angelic figure in the middle. The statue's hands were brought together in prayer with robes flowing down past her feet, crushing a serpent and surrounded by two supporting angels…

"It's the Virgin Mary…" a quiet whisper emitting from Isabel's throat into the unknown as she settled on the rim and shifted her position to face the crystal clear water below her, shimmering with the dull light above. Because of this newfound peace, the girl's eyes ever so slowly began to droop down into rest. Her muscles relaxed, and she began to sway absentmindedly from side to side, until her entire body frame began to collapse. As she fell on her side, her contact with the polished rock was cushioned by what felt like… A sweater?

Sheila's eyes shot open, and her ears perked up when she realized that the sweater was being worn by another being. Hesitantly did her eyes travel up the long sleeve coming in contact with the shoulders… the female's cheeks turned on a hot pink when her brown eyes caught sight of those red eyes--!

"Hello there.." Shadow's arms pulled the girl up to a sitting position, and gave her a long compassionate hug—much to Isabel's surprise, "But, I thought…" the girl's cheeks began to worsen with the red shade ad her eyes began to water with an unknown sadness and grief. Her lips were then sealed by the boy's fingers,

"You thought what?" Abruptly, his eyes converted into giving off a slight glare instead of a caring gaze, giving the girl less incentive to speak up, "Never mind, Shadow." She had only snuggled an inch into his chest before Sheila was brought up again to her sitting position—this time more rough than the last—

"Is there something that you wanted to tell me??" His leer sharpened. Either it was her imagination or her arms were being crushed by his hands, because right then they were going numb on her, forcing the girl to speak,

"I thought you were in the…" Right there Isabel's train of thought began to coast off into a different direction. Being urged on by Shadow's hard grip now on her waist, "I wanted to ask you something actually--!"

The male flinched and again tightened his grip—"What is it?!" He gave an inward snarl, teeth grinding into one another, showing off his blade-like incisors. This action suddenly threw off the girl's usual well being and alerted every one of her senses, causing her to write violently in his clutches—

"Let go of me, Shadow!!" Obviously he resisted, and when one of her arms was finally free, Sheila took this to advantage and slammed it into his neck. As the boy was caught off-guard his grip loosened and the girl was able to bounce off the rim and land on her feet. Now standing she blocked off Shadow's wild lunge towards her and succeeded in pushing him down into the freezing water.

The guy burst out soaking wet into a cursing rampage as he attempted to support himself on the slippery underwater surface—

"_Hey! _You _fuckin' _goddamned_ bitch!_ Get me out of here_ now!!"_

The transparent liquid silenced his throat long enough for a heavily shaken girl, strewn in tears to dash out into the school building like a madman, never looking back.

*****

"Fever or not I want you to do your best without any distractions you hear, Sasaki?! We're on the pinnacle here of presenting a world-class show block and you can't even get through the act without complaining about your illness??" The violet hedgehog opened her mouth to protest but again was faltered by Sally's assertiveness, forcing her into submission—

"The world doesn't serve you; you serve the world all right? Got that straight Sasaki?!" The ground squirrel's blue eyes flashed with anger and frustration. The female hedgehog grit her teeth, knowing well that the opposite was true. But she was not allowed to say so, as she was sent up to her post again to play her part as the prep, feeling the least bit bubbly.

Even if there were suds around, the bubbles ended up being popped by Ashton once again. Isabel was already on the verge of beating up something when she reached for her normal attire, with the curt yellow hedgehog stabbing behind her back, talking about her in front of everyone and making a joke out of it.

The girl's body temperature rose higher and the shade of her cheeks darkened, feeling hot to the touch. Making sure not to make any social contact with anyone in the room, she found the bathroom and changed back into her faded jeans and long-sleeved shirt, then got out of the rehearsal through the back door of the Green Room. She could swear that a monotony of giggles followed her out into the hallway leading to the exit closest to the parking lot…

"As if things couldn't get any worse." Sheila mumbled with her deadpan complexion. She was soon near the space where she parked her car, but was taken aback by the sudden gust of wind that blew from the north- bitter cold and dreary. The girl brought her arms together to massage her shoulders and later shuffling around in her purse for her set of keys. She stopped walking after reaching the car door and inserted her keys in the lock when from the other side emerged a blue hedgehog, wearing only a white t-shirt and shorts.

Isabel blinked for a moment, "Sonic? What are you doing here?!" She had to raise her voice as the winds began to pick up. The male hedgehog tried his best to keep down hi streamlined quills but decided to let them go, _"I came here to see how you were doing in that recital thing of yours—it seems that I'm too late!"_

_"Of course you are, Hedgehog! You just missed it!!"_

At this both seniors cracked a smile; the blue creature then looked into the skies above, realizing that the strong gusts of wind were bringing about dark heavy clouds—

_"Izzy—I came here on foot when it wasn't so drafty—Pretty dumb of me eh?!"_

The girl didn't hesitate to offer—_"Get in the car! The weather's gonna be a whole lot worse, Sonic!!" _She hopped into the driver's seat and opened the other car door, allowing the boy to settle and secure himself in his own seat. Both then closed their doors and the vehicle was put into ignition,

"Is there anything behind me, Sonic?" the other senior looked around the area,

"No, nothing that can get in your way." He replied.

"Good." The car was put into reverse, then forward again to drive out of the lot and into the streets.

*****

By the time the two had arrived at the apartment complex where Sonic lived, the storm had definitely picked up. Soon there was a heavy downpour, and a hint of lighting could be seen not too far from the town.

"Heh, thanks for the ride home, Iz!" Sonic's hand reached for the handle when he heard a sneeze coming from the driver's seat, "Aaa-_choo!! _Oh geez.." Sheila searched one of the car compartments to find a pack of tissues that the male hedgehog ended up finding, "Here you go, Iz."

"Thanks, Sonic," The girl blew into one of the cushioned paper quilts before raising her eyes to those lime-green orbs, gazing at her with a concerned look, "What is it?"

"You okay?" he inquired softly.

"Yeah I'll be fine, just need to get home and rest is all" The boy brought up a bare hand to her forehead, and his eyes widened, "You're burning up fast there girl." He unbuckled his seat belt and then unbuckled hers; "Ya need to stay at my place for a while."

"Oh no it's fine it's not a long way back, really." She waved her hand in polite gesture, but was caught by his good right arm, "Look out there," both students turned their heads back. The lightening became more frequent and the rain intensified, "As ya said, the weather's getting worse, and I don't wanna see you risk your life in this here storm, Isabel." He turned to face her, his voice stern, "Use your common sense, all right?"

For a millisecond the female hedgehog was caught off guard. When had she heard that before? Before long she nodded her head and was lead out into the wet atmosphere and onto a quick flight of stairs up to Sonic's apartment. The blue hedgehog knocked repeatedly against the door,

"_Mom!_ It's me yo! Open up!!"

A figure looked out the window close by and came behind the door to open it, letting the couple in—drenched to the bone. As soon as the boy stepped through the doorway he shook his head around getting the dew out of his cobalt quills—

"Olgivie Maurice, not in the house!" shrieked the lady who Sheila immediately sought out as his mother. Having the same quill style as her son, one could say they looked exactly the same, except hers were of a much lighter shade and were settled down to a little over shoulder height; quill hairs of the same color barely were able to cover her soft brown eyes.

"Aw come on _Mom_ not in front of her—_ix-nay on the real name-ay!"_ The girl giggled and offered the lady a hand, "Hello again, Mrs. Hedgehog."

After wringing out her long maroon skirt and matching turtleneck, Sonic's mother shook her hand and replied sweetly, "Oh—you don't have to call me by my last name—call me Veronica ok? Having to be called by my last name makes me feel old!"

In response to this Sonic gave a sneer, "That's because you _are _old, Mom!" Isabel tried to contain her outburst of laughter when his mother picked up a frying pan and chased her son around in the apartment, "Call me old why don't you?!"

*****

A pile of discarded clothes lay in the middle of the living room, along with the garments that were dampened by the rain that was still pounding at the windows. "Thanks for the change of clothes, Veronica." Sheila said.

"Oh don't mention it dear." The mother served up a heaping bowl of soup from the stove and walked towards the couch where the girl was wrapped in a pure cotton blanket, glad that she didn't have to do any homework, and resting soundly. She received the bowl and gave a smile of gratitude, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Isabel--" Just then Sonic came into the room, the top part of his body fully exposed, almost making the girl spill the hot broth—"That fever of yours getting' any better, Izzy?"

Veronica made an abrupt smack across the back of his head—"OW! Whatdya do that for, Mom??"

"Have you any shame Maurice Hedgehog? You get back to your room and put on a shirt on now!" the lady fumed, and hesitantly, the boy made his way back, "March, boy, march!" Veronica pulled herself together, "Sorry you had to see that, honey." The girl gave a knowing smile and resumed sipping up the chicken and vegetable goodness. Since she'd gotten here she had to admit that her fever was getting better, and with these two around, was able to think clearly again.

In a matter of seconds the boy whizzed back into the living room with what seemed like pajamas—a white shirt and shorts. Sheila blinked slightly, "Didn't you just wear those??" The blue hedgehog shook his head, "Nope these are different—I wore the other ones during Cross Country practice—man it fun! Ya should've been there, Iz!" Izzy was confuzzled, "How can you run with that arm?" Sonic laughed—"I can do lots of things!"

The girl peeked over the back of the couch and saw that his mother was listening in to their conversation, so she had to keep her language clean, "But you know that for me, Drama comes first right? Besides we have the actual production in the PAC on Friday before Winter Break."

The boy nodded in understanding, "What time is it then?"

"It's at 7:00 pm. Lasts about 2 hours –they're really just a bunch of one-acts, no scenes really—but the stage crew's gonna have to change the scenery around a lot and stuff..." Sonic scratched his head, "Um, was that English Ms. Dramapants?" a confused look on his face

"Don't be rude Maurice!" his mother snapped. At this Sheila gave an embarrassed giggle, "Sorry about that—must have been ranting again, eh heh.."

Then for a while the seniors discussed the usual aspects of their school lives, and of the upcoming tests on Friday—

"I am so not prepared for that test for Psych!"

"Math is gonna kill me that day!" … And such.

Soon after the call of rest came over the three in the apartment, Veronica being the first one to turn herself in. the lady stretched herself out and gave a large yawn into the palm of her hand, "~time for sleeping for me now, 'G Night you two..~~"

The girl was the first to respond, "You're going to sleep Ms—I mean, Veronica?" The purple hedgehog stood up, still in the blanket, "That means I have to go"—

"What? You can't go home yet, Izzy! It's still pouring out, see?" Sonic remarked, pointing towards the window. "But, I'm sure the storm's letting out now, Sonic."

For once Veronica supported her son's opinion, "You're going to have to stay here for the night." She closed the blinds on the windows, "We don't want you getting another cold do we?" Sheila was taken aback, and hesitantly slouched down back into the couch, "Thanks." Another smile of thankfulness for the both of them.

"Hm, knew you would see things my way—and Maurice!" Veronica was at the door of her bedroom when she spoke, "Act like a gentleman and don't you dare try to do anything to your sweet friend here all right?" The boy blushed for a moment, "Yes Mother, I won't.." He walked up to Veronica and kissed her good night, she returning it. "Good night, Isabel." His mother waved, quietly shutting the door behind her, leaving the other two alone in the room…

The silence was broken by their stifled giggles—

"Now really," Sonic whispered, "What you've been up to lately?" Isabel played this little game and whispered back, "To be honest, nothing has been up for me lately." The cobalt creature cocked his head, "Whatdya mean? School doing you in too?" he asked.

The girl sighed, and continued, "Academically I'm fine as usual—it's just social problems I'm having trouble with."

"Like, what?" an obvious concerned reaction.

"Well I've noticed Amy and Tikal and I don't have anything in common; it's usually Rose and I arguing while Tikal's in the middle—

"Tell me about it." Sonic scoffed.

"—Shadow's given me nothing but grief lately and I can't figure out why, and this one kid named Ashton Herald has been taking advantage of me—

"Wait, taking advantage of you? How??" the boy leered.

"He keeps on rubbing the failures and mistakes of the progress I've made in my face—since he's the producer he puts the whole weight of the play on my shoulders as if I was the only act in the entire show—he even talks behind my back and you _know_ how much that pisses me off!"

Sonic clenched his teeth, "I do—that bastard…" All of a sudden the arm out of the sling shook violently—

"And Shadow's given you nothing but grief lately, eh?"

His shaking hand took a firm hold of hers in the dim light. The girl said nothing and put her head down.

"I knew this was going to happen sooner or later." He took his hand away to rub his temples. He stood up from the alternating couch and carefully sat down next to the girl. Afterwards the boy resumed his whisper,

"Can't you see what's going on here, Iz?" the violet hedgehog shook her head after a moment of thought; she opened her mouth as if in protest, but Sonic never noticing asked plainly,

"What happened between you and Shadow lately?"

Trusting her close friend, the girl spoke, "Today, instead of going to the rec room, I decided to go out to the back garden.. I thought he wasn't going to be there but he was—at the fountain. He seemed so tense back there—even when I told him to let me go he wouldn't and that was when my fever kicked in… I ended up pushing him into the water and then I ran off crying…"

Hearing herself repeating what she lived through today made her shudder with déjà vu. The whole time Sonic's eyes were narrowed and his right arm shook with everything she said—

"He wouldn't let you go—why?"

"I was wanting to ask him something but for some reason it wouldn't come out—and he kept on cutting me off anyhow.." The girl's hand tensed as she rolled them into fists, her eyelids shut she yelled in a harsh whisper—"I can't tell what's wrong with him!"

The blur hedgehog took his right hand and rested it on Isabel's shoulder, fighting off the urge to swear immensely; slowly but carefully did he increase the amount of pressure on it, making her uncomfortable and inching away.

"I know what's wrong with him, Iz. He's a maniac—

The girl's reaction was a violent shake, but no sound was emitted, "He's following you wherever you go. He won't let you talk without you feeling obliged to. And he attempted to kill us both only two weeks ago!"

Tears formed around the female's eyes, "He did that to protect me from you—

"And what was the real danger that day?! _You were hospitalized! _He comes in and what do I do? I try to protect you from that leech! The problem you're facing is right there in front of you but _you ignore it!"_

Immediately the grip on the girl's shoulder was torn away when a burst of tears was silenced within the right palm of her hand. The boy rubbed her shoulder and in a caring way held her under his arm, trying to comfort her,

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, but it was the only way to let you know this thing going on between you and that… guy."

The girl pursed her lips together and gave a grave nod, then setting down on her side, raising the covers over her head. Her feet were careful not to rest on the boy's lap. Taking this as a sign of needing to rest, Sonic leaned over her fetal position and peeled away the cover from her face, wet from the salty dew rolling down her face.

With a small, sad grin, the boy hunched over and brushed his hand over her closed eyes and down her cheek. Out of undying love and concern for her, he then planted a feather-soft kiss on the lips, "Good night, Isabel…"

The distant rumbling of the sky outside began to falter, whereas the sky, a dark orange-violet, still loomed over Avalon…

…. Within the walls of the occupied apartment there lay a cobalt creature, arms wrapped around a girl's waist, bundled up in a layer of smooth velvet fabric… resting quietly in the night. ~~

*****

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Author: I just had to reveal Sonic's 'real name', according to Archie Comics of course :P

Sonic: Rawr! :


	9. Thursday

*******WARNING: RANDOM NON CANON LIMEY/LEMON? SCENE HERE, that's.. interrupted by.. dammit. XD**

_  
Have you been skimming through this story or are you actually reading it?? If you're skimming through it you've just lost so many hints.. Oh well. I'll leave you to this I guess..._

-Thursday-

While the students in Mr. Blevins' class filled out their study guides for next day's exam, Sheila was regaining confidence partially due to the fact that tomorrow was the last day before break. Usually schools would have some sort of Christmas Bash party during one of their classes, yet it seemed that Avalon High did no such thing. The staff was too busy making up the infernal Scantron tests and quizzes, and also projects to be assigned for the 2-week vacation. Virtually hell for the Freshmen but an annual routine for the more experienced on campus.

The female hedgehog was already three-fourths of the way done with her flash card when her mind wandered off to the random realm of sanity: The Drama Club had already rehearsed the play without the aid of scripts during lunch. Thus Isabel was done with her part for the day in the acting block, so she would have the rest of the day off. How she would spend it she didn't have much of a clue.

The girl felt a nudge on her leg made by a foot, "Did you find anything on Sigmund Freud's philosophy of dreams, Izzy?" Sonic asked. She turned to face him, smiled and moved her desk closer to his, showing the notes with nothing to worry about. "Study Period" usually meant "Social Hour" anyway. As the boy jotted down the notes Mr. Blevins strolled by, peering over both students' work meticulously, "I see that one of my delinquents is actually preparing for an exam for once!" He gave a strong pat on the boy's right shoulder.

"Thanks Coach." The man gave a wise smile, "Now if you were able to put as much effort in your classes as you do in running you'd be an Honors Student just like your friend here." The teacher gave the girl a wink, to which she raised an eyebrow but smirked while the blue hedgehog laughed, "I don't put effort in Cross Country or Track—ya know that! And 'sides," here the boy rested his head on the girl's shoulder, "I could never be as smart as Izzy here. If she wanted to she could've enrolled in Yale years ago!"

Mr. Blevins let out a small chuckle, "I'm sure she could have, Hedgehog." And at that moment the bell rang for the end of 3rd period once again.

The mob of the class pushed through the opening whereas Sonic and Sheila, being the lackies, just finished packing. The boy was careful to secure his backpack on and hugged Sheila around her shoulders, "Gotta go fast today Iz—have a date with a novel and vocab review!" The girl merely waved as he zoomed off into the hallway.

As she left her desk the coach came up to her and plainly commented, "You're not blowing up on people today I see, Ms Del Castillo." At this the senior gave a nervous laugh and scratched behind her head before responding, "eh—sorry about Monday, Mr. Blevins—I wasn't being myself lately, eh heh." The self-acclaimed psychiatry whiz pulled a somewhat humorous face before inquiring,

"Still thinking if you should go speak to the counselor—maybe not at Avalon High but maybe in the city…?" The question gave way to a sustained silence, the girl pursing her lips together and placing a closed hand on the top of her chin, teeth biting into the skin surrounding the joint of her index finger. It was a sure sign of uncertainty, but instead of losing her head, Sheila answered, "I'll think about it—Thank you, Mr. Blevins." As formally as she could, she secured her own pack and walked out of the room, nonchantly making her way to the rec room down the north hall.

When the senior stepped foot in the abandoned classroom, she rumpled her hair quills and cautiously walked further, having eyes focused on the ground, bracing for impact—

"What took you so long?"

As if she were caught naked, she abruptly cocked her head up to find Shadow, sitting in a flawless style atop the teacher's desk, "_Well?_" Sheila gulped and a bead of sweat formed at the side at the far side of her cheek, taking a breath she managed to explain, "Mr. Blevins wanted to talk to me about something, that's all."

In gangly elegance the boy slid off the wooden platform and stood upright, facing the female level to her eyes. He then took a step forward, "What did he talk to you about??"

In an abrupt way the violet hedgehog balled up her hands into fists, growling, "Why the hell—!!

"I'm sorry, Isabel." The crimson-stained black hedgehog said plainly. The words cut through the girl like butter. Her eyes widened and her face fell. Before she knew it her fists had unraveled quickly as Shadow picked them up in his gloved hands, giving each of them a kiss and pressing them together, "I'm sorry that I've been acting pathetically towards you this week, Isabel. I guess like you I wasn't being myself lately. I'm sorry that I hurt you…"

The girl stared in disbelief into those glazed ruby orbs—just making eye contact with them caused hers to water, eventually spilling the ill-tasting substance. "Do you forgive me, Isabel? If you don't I understand--

The female hedgehog cut him off, "What do you mean I won't, Shadow? Of course I do!" Her cheeks became flushed with the tears down to under her chin, where the boy gingerly placed a finger to raise her head, giving her a small kiss. He gave a tiny smirk when she giggled.

"What?" Shadow chuckled, running his hand through his lover's quills.

"It's nothing—I was reminded of when we first went out during Sophomore year—remember the fair where your adopted parents took us to, Shadow?"

The boy gave a miniscule flinch—"yeah I remember." Pulling himself together, "Funny that we were the only two on the roller coaster not freaking out like everyone else." The female hedgehog laughed and cuddled into the boy's chest, "I miss those days…" Both then gave a deep sigh,

"So do I…" Shadow gave a deep kiss this time, "Glad we're still together…"

~The black hedgehog wrapped his arms around the girl's waist and pulled her closer to him. Giving another run through her red-violet hair quills the boy planted yet another contact onto her soft lips, giving tongue within the crevice of her mouth. All at once the same actions were returned and he took this as the go-ahead—more passionate did the kisses become, leaving the cave from where the two breathed for air and traveling down her neck. He came down to her shoulder blades and kissed between them, making the girl shudder,

"Shadow, I…"

"Shhh…." With a grip still surrounding the female's torso he slowly guided her towards the edge of the teacher's desk, securing the girl's curiosity with another soft kiss.

With her back leaning against the edge of the raised platform she suddenly felt a weight press against her belly but welcomed the male hedgehog with open arms. His eyes glittered with mocking malice when he saw this gesture and in manner of confidence gave a few rough licks up and down the girl's neck. From her throat came a sound unknown to him, but knowing it was of pleasure, teased her again, loving the reaction he received. Feeling a bit cocky herself, Isabel drove her leg up to his crotch, surprising the black hedgehog and for once making him blush,

"Hey! Heh heh.." Shadow removed the leather covering and cuffs from his hands and placed his gloves on the desk, "You're getting needy."

He stuck his exposed ebony fingers up into the girl's shirt and began to rub her lower back, going higher by the second. Sheila blushed and playfully attempted to pry his hands away, only succeeding in making the boy rub her sides and giving more fluttering kisses along her shoulders, his teeth grabbing a hold of her collar and making his way to the top of the girl's breasts, where he sucked mercilessly—the girl's eyes shot wide and then returned to their awake slumber—her face going red and moans coming from her throat—

"Isabel!" Shadow gasped for breath before resuming down hills, "I love you so much!" a faint whisper.

"I love you too, Shadow…" her intoxicated smile—At this point the girl let herself be dominated by the passion-hungry lover, wanting so much to share his deep lust for her… ~

What they did not notice was a figure at the doorway—his dark brown eyes narrowed in a livid glare—

"So _this_ is what you do during your spare time, _Isabel?!_"

All at once the couple shot their heads to their rightful position and turned to face Ashton. As usual he looked his best in his lavish garments, but this time the glasses were removed, revealing the inner beast inside of him—"When you should be rehearsing your lines you're wasting your time by means of making out with this _delinquent!!"_

Shadow let go of the girl abruptly and paced toward the yellow hedgehog, "What did you call me?!" He was to grab at the guy's shirt when the female hedgehog grabbed her lover's shoulder,

"Don't listen to him, Shadow—he wants you to fight him so that you can get in trouble!"

Ashton sneered at both of them, "It seems that least one of you has a brain. Too bad you can't put that to use during rehearsal, _Del Castillo!"_

The girl grit her teeth madly and with great effort kept her hands relaxed while the rest of her body went tense. Her eyes leered, "I use plenty more than you think, Herald."

"Well I find that hard to believe, _miss._"

The black hedgehog took over, "Look, you _bastard—_if you dare try to insult us again I'm gonna--

"Do _what??" _Ashton cut in, "_Beat me up?_ I'm afraid you're putting the upcoming production at stake by attempting to get rid of me—Why, you'll even endanger _her_ reputation as well, being the girlfriend of some crazed maniac." The formal senior gave one more sneer concealing the loathing for the couple, giving himself permission to exit the scene.

During these words, Shadow's teeth and hands clenched, his shoulder still secured by Sheila's hand—_I'll do more than beat you up, Herald._

"… Sorry you had to hear that, Shadow," the girl said, looking down out of humiliation. Seeing this, the boy lifted her head up carefully, inquiring one last question from his throat,

"When's the play going to be, Isabel?"

*****

A hand reached for the top of the shelf, its arms extending to search for a small notebook with a cover made of pastel pink paper mache. On its surface was a red protrusion in the elegant form of a rose.

When Amy was able to get her diary down from the tall Maplewood dresser, she walked over to the matching desk and from a container pulled out a pink mechanical pencil. Decorated along its barrel was Sanrio's Hello Kitty in many poses, wearing the usual cute outfits. The pink hedgehog closed the door to her room and plopped down on the bed. Feet suspended in the air, she opened her diary to the last entry and read over the words on the rose-colored parchment. Her face cracked a smile before turning to a blank page to write down her next entry:

~~Thursday, December 23~~

~Well, it's been going fine today. People to see, places to shop, whatever. OMG I can't believe Winter Break's coming up! And the dance tomorrow—the Winter Ball! Obviously I was able to get Tikal to go to the dance with me, but once again I failed in getting Sheila to go. (This time she actually had to help out with something—Go Figure!

Christmas is coming up and I bought all my friends presents. Hope they like them; 'course I'm gonna have to put up with "Ms. Gangsta". She wouldn't wear pink even if I paid her! Oh, well…

… That guy though—he seems so depressed all the time, but with her he becomes so happy and full of himself—even Sonic likes her! Why can't _I _be with Shadow?! What does he see in her anyway?? I can't wait to make Shadow see who the real girl of his dreams really is!! I am so gonna –

A knock suddenly banged at Amy's door.

"Come in." she said after giving an inward growl. Through the doorway came the innocent and beautiful echidna Tikal. Her expression was one of deep concern, and did not go unnoticed,

"What's wrong, Girl?" the pink hedgehog asked, trying to force a sweet smile all the while. The other girl let her eyes travel in a different direction unknown before answering, "I wonder what's making Sheila feel bad."

"Tikal," was Amy's response, "There's always something wrong with that woman! What makes you want to know??"

The echidna merely looked around and fiddled with her delicate fingers; "I just think something's going to happen to her—something real bad this time." At this Amy stood up on the hardwood floor and placed her hands on her small hips,

"Is your ESP working up again?" Tikal's response was a mere nod, and then she spoke, almost in a faint whisper, "I think I should go to the play instead of the Winter Ball tomorrow, Amy." The pink hedgehog's eyes widened in shock—

"What do you mean—canceling your plans to go to the Ball?? Those tickets are non-refundable you know!" then she exploded, "I don't know why you even _care_ about that weird girl—she's crazier than a _nutcase_ and she isn't worth giving up the _dance of your life!!"_

Then she took an aggressive step towards the echidna, her eyes flaming with jealousy and rage—"You're coming with _me_ to the _dance_—_you got that?!"_

Since she wasn't the toughest girl in the world, Tikal never protested and lifted her eyes up and gave another solemn nod, tears in her eyes,

"Okay, Amy, I'll go."

*****

Needing to take a break from studying for the inferior exams, Sonic took a stroll from his apartment and before he knew it was in the next neighborhood. A while back he passed by Sheila's house, assuming she was asleep. For some reason he cracked a smile and walked on into the moonless night.

After a while he reached the edge of town and took in an enchanting view of the city under the steep hill from which he stood on. The buzzing lights and the multitude of noise coming from the streets below made no intention of realizing the difference between night and day. The center of business was always alive and happy with its carefree residents.

Why couldn't the people of Avalon feel the same way?

With that in mind the anthromorph gazed a while longer at the city and turned around to walk home. On his way back he came right next to the backyard of Shadow's house and sought a glimpse of the black hedgehog shutting the screened patio door behind him. Once he was sure he was gone, Sonic crept onto the cool blue-green grass and stared no further beyond the small box garden against a rough wooden picket fence. From the dim light his eyes could make out the faint outline of a stone shaped into an erect dome on top, and a blood red rose lying in the black dirt next to it.

*****

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Author's Notes: Okay so that last scene w/ the rose is what you would have seen on my cover page of the printed-out version of this fanfic (yes I did print it out all of it)

The whole echoing of words that Herald emitted from Mr. Blevins (who by the way is based of one of my fave teachers ;P) is gonna become apparent later in the story. It's gonna get good! :3 (Review if you feel like it :D)


	10. Friday

-Friday-

"My God… so close to finishing, the, Psychology Final—so close!" the girl thought aloud, causing the rest of the class to burst into giggles, as they were having the same exact thought. Sonic especially, who stifled his whirlwind of laughter with crossed arms on his desk and face buried in them. The end of 3rd period would come at last, and this time the female hedgehog wouldn't be left behind writing the essay as she often did.

"Looks like AP English actually helped me out in something for once," she mumbled as she stapled her finished writing together. Sonic then gave a gesture of excitement punching his fists in the air and repeated the ceremony of stapling the test—

"_I FINISHED!!"_ This time the whole class burst into laughter—

"_Hey!_" Sheila exclaimed—"You've been cheating off me haven't you?!"

At this Mr. Blevins gave a sharp glance towards the male hedgehog, making him shrink in his desk. Then the teacher beamed in his excitement—

"Looks like the All-Star Cross Country runner's finally got some brains in this class!"

*****

The girl's walk down the hallway had become a skip across the waxed tile floor, "I can't believe we're done with our tests now, Sonic! This is so _awesome!_"

The blue hedgehog gave a playful sneer, "I guess as awesome as the bandage on your head I bet." The girl flinched, telling that there was a dripping of sarcasm in his words,

"Is there something wrong, Sonic?" Was all she could ask as her head was still clouded with the theories of egos and ids and Freud's philosophies. The taller senior looked down at her meditatively and his face seemed expressionless,

"You invited Shadow to the play tonight, didn't you?" Sheila gave a series of blinks, later giving off a smirk—

"Yep, sure did." The male hedgehog fell silent for a while as both walked through the doors out to the front of the building. As soon as they reached the sidewalk, the girl caught sight of Amy and Tikal. The echidna sensed this and turned around to face the couple, her lips parted slightly.

"Hello, Sheila—Sonic."

Knowing that she wasn't a threat, the two hedgehogs smiled back, and Sonic gave a tiny wave to the pink one, whose eyes glittered with malice. As if to cover things up, Amy was the first to speak, "So," she walked over to Sheila's side, 'I heard that you invited Shadow to the play. Why wouldn't you let him come to the dance?"

"Um, he doesn't like to dance much." Needing to avoid the subject, the girl wheeled around to ask the blue hedgehog; you're coming to the play too, right? Sonic?" In an abnormal response to this, the boy shrugged and spoke, "Would if I could, Izzy, but I have to take my mom somewhere and it takes a while to get there. I probably won't make it on time to see your play. I'm sorry."

"But…" Isabel stopped. "Okay then. Hope you two get there safely, then." Before her conscience could stop her, she gave him a tight hug in front of the other girls and before she could contain herself, gave a small peck upon his cheek.

*****

"Places everyone." Sally clapped her hands together as the actors and actresses stood in their little group in the Green Room in the back of the PAC. Sheila tried her best not to choke on the sudden deep hatred for the world, catching sight of Ashton giving her a mocking smile. He already knew that something was wrong with her that opening night.

"Okay guys—tonight's the big night. I know some of you are a little nervous, especially for the newbies here," everyone peered around for the faces of the lower classmen, "and other cases," looking at no one in particular, but with everyone getting the idea, oppressing their giggles with serious poses. The hybrid squirrel resumed, "Just wanted to say, do your best—and break a leg!" Everyone cheered, with Sheila being the least bit enthusiastic. Again throughout this time her thoughts trailed off in a different direction…

~~ "What the hell do you mean? Are you telling me that you only wanted to come here to get back at Ashton Herald??_ Why?!_ He's an _idiot_ and a _jerk_—that's all there is to it! There's no need for you to do that, Shadow!"

The black hedgehog looked down over the female hedgehog, glaring at her, "Are you actually _defending_ this bastard from me?! Do you have any idea what he did to us? He _insulted_ us, Isabel! That goddamn son-of-a-bitch doesn't deserve to live!" A moment's silence, "Stop acting like you love him!"

"ME?? _LIKE HIM?! Hell no! _I hate his fuckin' guts, but not even he deserves to die! You know that!" Shadow looked off to the side, "I do??" The girl wrung her hands in fury, "Damn you Shadow—Just, damn you!!"

She was abruptly pulled forward for suffocating kisses, and she wriggled and kicked away screaming, "Don't play with me! _Leave me alone!! _I thought this was done and over with but you haven't changed _one bit!!" _She ran off, leaving a _mad_ hedgehog behind.~~

_I probably shouldn't have blown up on him like that. _

Sheila absentmindedly took orders from her superiors and went around to practice her lines on stage one last time, ready with costume, and doing those ridiculous breathing exercises a hundred times over. At some point during this monotonous, gut-wrenching pace, everyone was getting a little nervous, even the producers. Ashton himself was laughing off his insecurities after catching a glimpse of the slightly tilted curtains at the right side of the stage. "No matter, it will hold."

The yellow hedgehog walked toward the pondering hedgehog actress, inquiring as gentlemanly as possible, "You think you're ready to be the all-around prep on 'Bus Stop' tonight?" No answer. "What do you think of my attire? I believe I went all out." Not giving the girl time to respond, Ashton strutted around in his tuxedo and cropped pants like some rich boy would, causing the girl to catch a wave of nausea. She was decked out in the latest Abercrombie and Fitch merchandise, complete with the repulsive wig upon her bandaged head.

"I think you've had that thing on for too long, Isabel." The boy tugged at a stray end of cloth sticking out under the polyester fibers, making her wince, "OW!" Before Isabel knew it the wig was ripped off and the cloth unraveled under Ashton's suspended hand, twirling with great force. The girl gave out a series of yelps—"OW! Dammit stop it!"—No one was in the main part of the PAC, so there was no way that they could have heard Sheila's suffering. She grabbed her head in pain after the bandage removal, covering a vile-looking bruise on the backside her head. When Isabel held back a whimper Ashton gave a short chuckle and then stated, "You know, you don't look so bad now. Looks like it's healing."

_Healing my ass!_ Isabel growled, hands still at her head, marched off to the Green Room maimed and humiliated. The boy looked after her with a malicious sneer, and continued reciting his lines onstage, alone.

*****

"_Dammit!_ I can't believe that girl! The guy's a fucking deaf bastard and she still defends him?? Does she know how long she's been putting up with this Ashton?! For much too long godammit!!" The black hedgehog was riding back to his house to rest for a while before the opening night time. When he reached his residence he mounted off his motorcycle, and then figure in the sunset was jogging toward him,

"Hey Shadow!" The hedgehog wheeled around, "Amy?"

The girl giggled, decked out in a form-fitting t-shirt and booty shorts, "Of course it's me!"

Being as polite as possible the guy asked, "Um, you looking for a place to crash?" Amy clapped her hands together, "Would I?! I'd love to!"

Shadow led the pink hedgehog to the door and let her inside. "Why were you out there running, Amy?" he asked.

"Well," Amy thought, "I was just trying to burn off a few pounds before the dance—look at the outfit I got!" From her wide rose-tinted pack she pulled out a large plastic bag with a hanger sticking out. She peeled away the covering and revealed the most gorgeous satin dress—a deep maroon sequined with many rhinestones, with no strap, and a large cut on the side. If the dress was a different color she would have the resemblance of Jessica Rabbit.

Shadow's eyes widened for a moment and his ears perked up, "That's an interesting dress, Rose." Her eyes shimmered, "Really?"

"Yeah, really." After clearing his throat, "Would you like to have a seat?" Leading her to the mahogany chairs at the kitchen table, "Want something to drink?" Amy giggled again through all his seriousness, "Yeah, sure. What do you have?"

The boy turned around and gave a little smirk, "It's either water or some liquor from the old man's cabinet. What would you like?" Amy blushed and pondered on the choice, "A malt cooler would be nice." Shadow looked away and served her a mango cooler from the ice chest in the fridge and got himself a glass of tap water, putting in just a bit of tequila from the top shelf. He sat down alongside her, bringing the glass bottle with him. At this point the pink hedgehog was internally rejoicing at her luck, taking a large swing of the harsh, sweet alcohol, burning down her throat. Like nothing, Shadow chugged down his small glass and served himself an undiluted shot of more tequila, bringing that down his throat as well.

Ten minutes of straight drinking and the pink hedgehog looked totally wasted, whereas the black one seemed as reserved as ever. The only real difference at this point was that Shadow was beginning to look a bit anxious, eyes traveling up to the wall clock, marking at 6:45 pm, 15 minutes before the play—and the Winter Ball.

Staggering up to his feet, he spoke, "Hey- I think we both have to go now Amy…" The girl got up on her feet as well, eyelids partially covering her clouded green eyes, inhibited with the spell of the coolers. Instead of reaching for her pack, she stumbled into the boy's chest, and giving him a hug around the waist. Sensing this as a mere coincidence, Shadow got the girl up to her feet again, "Looks like you've had too much, Amy Rose."

"I have, haven't I?" slurring her speech, "maybe I shouldn goto thi- here dance afterall…" The girl hugged Shadow again, pulling off a move that surprised the black hedgehog. She led his hands down to her tiny waist, then resting over her bottom. He went up in complete shock and pushed her away, "Hey! You've had too many coolers for one night Rose!" leading her to the nearby couch, "Just—stay here for the night, all right?"

Amy looked up at him, "But I love you, Shadow!" His piercing red eyes widened in alarm—this could not be happening to him! _Surely, it must have been the liquor she had.. _He thought, but was proven to be wrong. Before he knew it Amy had jumped up on her feet, drunk or not, and marched up to him, eyes suddenly sharp with envy, yelling in front of his face,

"I want you to stay her e with _me,_ Shadow! You don't have to go to that dumb play to go see that other girl you're always with! Why do you even care about her anyway??" The guy was taken aback, realizing why Amy had come into his house in the first place. His face contorted into one of mistrust, eyes leering at her, coming forward a few inches before responding, "Maybe I have to go to that play for a _reason_, Rose. Don't_ you _have to go to that damned precious ball of yours, _perchance??"_

Even if his breath stunk of liquor, Amy did not back down for an instant, never becoming aware of the hazardous zone that she had just stepped into within the boy's conscious mind, "Damn it! Why?!" She gave a hard push into his stomach, almost having him stagger back, "_Who gives a flying fuck about that damn bitch?! She's just another fucking whore just like any other stupid average girl!_"

The black hedgehog grabbed at her throat and growled menacingly, baring his fangs, "A fucking whore you say?? Best to take that back, Rose!" His other hand was reaching into his sweater pocket—

"_No! I'm not going to!!-- _I feel sorry for you, Shadow!" –-a flash of silver—"_You're way too naive of what's going on betw---" _

The knife's razor sharp blade made a clean cut into her throat, which emitted one of the most horrendous blood-curdling screams known to man. It was a wonder that no one in the neighborhood could hear it. The dark crimson viscous liquid flowed out of the crevice and clear onto the white clothing and beige carpet. Before long the writhing corpse of the teenage girl was thrown upon the floor, having the mutilated neck twist into an impossible position on its new hinge. Amy's eyes were now bloodshot, the light gone from the forest green orbs—every bit of her tousled about.

Shadow peered down at his victim and chuckled, "_You _were way too naïve for what was going to happen." With his feet, he turned over the corpse so that its back was fully lying on the carpet. He smiled, "Pity, I was beginning to like you as a friend, Amy Rose."

*****

The girl shrieked in horror in the dance line, right in front of the ticket taker and other students behind her, waiting to gain admittance into the Winter Ball dance. When she was asked why, she whirled around to stare at them with tears in her eyes. Everyone else just looked back at her—some with concern, and others with just plain perplexed expressions. Before she could be stopped, Tikal the Echidna ran out of the ticket line to the gym, and out to the parking lot to frantically find a way to get back home before it was too late. Halfway there, she knew that the deed had already been done. Before she could stop herself, she let out a loud cry out into the clouded night sky, the salty tears ruining her flawless complexion.

*****

"Oh! Could you give me one of those lemon cough drops?? They're just like candy!"

"Um, didn't you go into rehab for those?"

"Who said I did?" The blonde came up to the other's ear and whispered loudly, "Ix-nay on the rehab-ay!"

The crowd went up in giggles as the actress said this line. Sheila was actually succeeding in performing her role for once! The smiles from the many spectators almost lifted her soul up from the bottomless pit, but, in reality, failed to do so. It was apparent that Ashton was somewhat impressed with her performance, as his eyebrows went up in shock. Before there could be a short silence, he stated in his own intelligent boy lines, "She was on rehab you say?"

A green female weasel, known as the brunette passing off as a blonde, replied, "Well, to be honest, it was true." At this as scripted the other girl retorted in a hilarious manner, "It was only for a week and you know that, Missy!" More laughs.

While all this was going on, a tense eye kept focus on the curtain suspended over on the right side of the stage. Sally realized that it was more tilted to the right than usual, and crossed her fingers at the front of the PAC in a small boxed-in light and sound room, shaded away from the rest of the audience, hoping that nothing was to occur anytime soon…

*****

"That was good, Isabel. Really good." The Drama King passed by the female actress muttering these words, causing her to smile faintly in triumph. Another act passed by before the PAC was lit for a 10-minute interval for the audience members to stretch out their legs. Finally, Sheila could take the time to rest for a while.

The female weasel who played the brunette came up to her and gave her a beaming grin, "You were great, Iz. Glad that you could keep those butterflies in, eh?"

The purple hedgehog laughed for a bit and answered, "I'm quite glad that I did. I'm actually done for the night. Thanks, Jewel."

"No prob!" Jewel gave a quick hug before sitting in her designated area, her features suddenly converting into a depressive state. Sheila noticed this, and looked around to see if anyone was in the Green Room. She walked up to the weasel and sat down next to her, "Still feeling down about that?"

Jewel gave a deep sigh, and raised her hazel eyes, "Yeah I am.. "

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Nah it's fine." Jewel smiled.

By this time intermission was over and the actors, actresses, and stagehands began pouring back into the room, giving Sheila the permission to shut her mouth on the subject.

"Well, now we're at the second half of the acts, guys!" Sally said out loud, receiving sighs of exhaustion, "Don't worry," she smiling gaily, "We're almost done!" The hybrid looked down at the weasel and said plainly, "That means an act into the second half and you should be ready to go, Jewel." Then she let the other girl be, as did Isabel, who had her own demented issues to wallow in, and what from she could remember she never saw a glimpse of the one she had invited without thought…

"It must have been the absence of light."

*****

A male hedgehog was clapping and chuckling to no one in particular just outside the theatre building, being a proud onlooker of his lover's performance. The second half of the production was already under way, and he was ready with weapon in hand, and another in his pocket. The dark cloudy skies allowed just enough moonlight cast upon his silhouette to reveal the glimmer of a sick, twisted grin, tainted in red.

*****

The girl sighed out in exasperation, "Oh my God…"

Sheila just sat there at the far end of the room with head buried in her hands, pensive and still angry all the while with the people that interrupted the natural path of her life, as broken as it was already. It would have been better if that hypocritical woman didn't adopt her. It would have been better if she never had to put up with the next 4 years of her life at Avalon High. It would have been better—

"If I were dead."

Looking out of her emotional hole, it had only given the girl a fraction of a second that something was wrong in the Green Room. She looked around the place, seeing that something—someone—was missing within the mingling students of Drama. Without thinking she got up abruptly, causing the people to look her way, and called out, "Jewel!"

She peered down the hallways frantically, and then in the women's bathroom, but no luck. _Wasn't she supposed to go on next??_

After about a minute of searching she found the other girl outside the door of the Green Room that led to the dimly lit hallway, with a lit cigarette between her index and middle finger. The fumes coming from the thin rolled up layers of toxins reached Sheila's nose, smelling of another's frustration and sorrow, almost intoxicating except for the fact that she'd never dare to smoke. Jewel took a long draft and blew it out through her nose, and in sitting position, brought up her legs to her chest.

"Hey," the violet hedgehog couched down next to her, face puzzled, "what's going on?"

No answer.

"You do know that… Jewel, you're supposed to up onstage for the next act."

"What if I don't want to?"

Even if the intention was understandable, Sheila just stared at her in shock. She just sat down next to her and waited for something to happen. As a matter of fact, something did happen.

Just then Sally burst through the door, almost slamming the metal slab on them both,

"Why did you have to leave the Green Room at the worst time, Jewel?!" She fumed.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a little—

"Little what?! You have to be onstage in less than a minute, Rolan!"

The weasel got up and glared at the director, taking another quick smoke before throwing it on the

ground in front of the squirrel and hedgehog, crushing it against the concrete with her foot.

"I _said _I'm not going to be in this play, alright??" Sally was taken aback, "_What_? You can't be serious!"

"Too bad, Sally, but I can't perform tonight. I'm sorry."

"S-_Sorry_?!"

Jewel wheeled around and walked away from the other girls, leaving Sally perplexed and infuriated, "Isabel! Make her come back here!"

In a vain attempt to convince her friend to stay, Sheila reached for Jewel's shoulder, "Please stay here, just for this act!" _I need you here with me, Jewel! I don't want to stand all of this alone!_

Jewel scoffed, and turned her head to face the shorter of the two, "You keep following orders from people like her like some lowly servant, and you're gonna get nowhere, Izzy!"

Sheila's eyes widened, and watered without explanation. Biting her lip, she let the girl go, and with a heavy heart watched her walk away from her. There was a sudden noise in the background that was ignored, and at this point Ashton joined Sally's side, breathing heavily, eyes practically bloodshot,

"_Sally!_ The stage! _The curtains!_ They fell on the far end of the audience! No one got hurt, but the play is being put on a quick hiatus to fix it—or get rid of it." No reply escaped from Sally's lips.

"Where is Jewel Rolan??" he demanded of the producer and the actress.

"She left." The male hedgehog whipped his neck to face the female one, "What??"

Sheila repeated herself. "She _left_." As if she were following a script, Sally blurted out,

"She_ let _her leave!!" Ashton's face fell in a newfound distress. He merely walked away, life gone from his shoulders, "I need to go make an announcement onstage…"

Sally looked after him and didn't say a thing, having tears in her eyes. Seeing this almost made Isabel feel sorry for her, but not long enough, for the hybrid suddenly shot her dark sapphire eyes at her, with pure, bitter hatred. Just that cold silence made the girl feel like crap, and before she could stop herself, began to weep, covering her face so that no one could see. Sally wiped her own salty liquid away, and went inside. Shadow was just around the corner to hear Isabel's faint voice. "I'm… sorry."

Five minutes of pitying herself, unknowingly under the watchful garnet orbs of the hedgehog, and she was able to calm herself down, but was now ridden with resentment for everyone again. It seemed that everyone around her had just betrayed her within those few moments, _but why?_ It wasn't her fault that Jewel wanted to leave, was it? No, it was because she had to put up with situations similar to what Isabel was in now, but to a lesser degree. Nevertheless, it was no excuse for her to leave the play, which caused a chain reaction resulting in the canceling of one of the acts, much to all the spectators' disappointment.

Except for one, who was more than happy to realize that he didn't have to wait as long for his revenge. He clapped his hands once again, this time to the fallen draperies lying there on the side of the stage, being taken away by the many stagehands due to the time that was left to perform. He then glanced behind him, where a girl's body lay bound and gagged in the nearby shredded wood pit under a tree, strewn with red slime. Her hand, opened slightly, revealed a lighter, with only a bit of life left. He just stared for a moment, and then gave an inward growl, "All because of you, bitch."

The next act had begun and the black hedgehog came around the corner of the building again, and this time he could not see the girl anywhere. He realized that she was inside, and crept close to the door, putting his ear against it.

Just on the other side of the door was the female hedgehog, face buried in her shaking hand, trying to cease her suffering, but to no avail, despite the fact that her eyes no longer watered. She aimlessly moped around the sea of worried, anxious people, and sat herself down again at the far end of the room, away from everyone. Ashton came up to her and said plainly, "You shouldn't have let her go."

Sheila just raised her eyes at him, showing a horrible angst through her features, "I don't care anymore. Leave me alone."

The yellow hedgehog just raised his eyebrows and walked off briskly, followed by a non-discreet showing of the middle finger from the girl's raised hand, for all to see. Some gave her looks of disbelief, and others a look of terror. To talk back at a guy like him was like stepping into a glut of landmines, ready to explode at any second. It wasn't long until some random fellow actor came to her and asked if she was okay, getting back no reply in return. Jason, as he was named, asked of her to come backstage so that Ashton could have a talk with her about the signs used as props for the stage. This left Sheila annoyed,

"Why does he need to talk to me about the signs? Why do I even have to go to him anyway? Tell him to come here why don't you?!" Jason did as he was told, and soon enough, the yellow hedgehog strolled back into the Green Room with a serious air about him, quiet and calm as ever. In his hands he had a cane that was used during the introductory speech before the play began. _Why did he bring a cane??_

The girl's question was to be answered upon the spot. Before she knew it, all that could enter her ears and mind were these words, all executed as if they were part of the grandest monologue the general public had ever witnessed—and carrying that damn cane like some cheery salesman! :

"You are practically nothing to me. You are the dust that my feet walk on. You are the gum under my shoe. You are worthless. Your radical ideas are as fucked up as you are. You will never amount up to anything—Never, you hear? I hope that you grow old and perish with no one on your side. You will die—_Alone_."

All this, plus the goddamn calm air that he had the entire time, plus the fact that everyone was there to see this feat, made the girl feel even more humiliated than ever. She just sat there, petrified, just not reacting in any way, letting the worst insult of her life sink in like an idiot. When he left the room the message of hid whole doing came clear.

Never, in her whole life, had she ever feel this inferior, not even when she put up with the boyfriend that was anything but good to her. She stood up, and began muttering to herself loudly as she paced around the room wildly, "I _can't_ believe it- I just can't damn believe it—_what the fuck?! _Why the hell did he just---?? With his stupid cane and.." In front of all who watched, her ravings evolved into shrieks, and then she kicked a nearby plastic storage box hard and toppled it over— "GODDAMMIT! I'LL THROTTLE THAT DAMNED BASTARD!!"

Shadow crouched there on the other side of the door, shaken by what had just occurred. Never in his life had he thought that this girl was even capable of ensuing such threats seriously! Not being able to do a thing, he just heard Isabel's sudden screams and outward cursing. It had taken a couple of minutes for a fellow senior to come to her side to try to calm her down. Since she was not used to becoming so angry, she choked up on her outburst of tears and sunk back down, but her veins boiled with rage when she caught sight of that yellow hedgehog, who just stared at her, expressionless. Isabel kept her tight fists in check, or rather the other senior girl did. _Good thing too- I'm capable of actually ramming his head against a wall right about now!_

Before long the girl was beginning to gain her focus back, with the senior girl on her side, commenting, "It looked as if you were from some horror movie, Izzy!" To this there was a very curt laugh emitting from the other's throat, "Sorry about this, Kat."

"No, it's all right, Iz. Hope you feel better soon—Just ignore him from now on, ok?"

"Okay. Thanks Kat." It was then that Ashton walked up to the two girls, asking if the younger of the two would come see him outside. When Shadow caught sight of the hedgehogs coming towards the door, he slipped away as fast as he could, but kept careful watch of them as the boy spoke,

"I have to say that I'm really sorry for this, Isabel. Being a producer of the play got me really stressed out and made me do things that I usually hate to do." To this Isabel just peered up at him and looked down,

"It's ok- it won't happen again" was her weak reply. She couldn't come up with insults now, her whole body and mind was thoroughly exhausted. The third party spy glared at the two in incredulity.

"How could she just say that to this bastard?!" he whispered to himself in the shadows, not loud enough for the other two to hear. His fists tightened and his teeth clenched. He kept a careful hold of the gun's trigger, holding himself back from jumping out of nowhere and blasting the guy's head off. And in the process—

"Well then, I guess it's settled." When Ashton left the hallway the girl grabbed for her head, which throbbed immensely with agonizing pain, worse than before. She put her hands against the wall for support, and stopped herself from whimpering.

With almost good intention, the askew teenager, no longer under the influence of alcohol, tried to reach for her through the shade, but held himself back again, being only a few inches away from her arm. Sheila was too occupied with her physical, mental trouble to even notice his presence, although the massive pain was doing a very good job. He crept back into the shadows, cocked his weapon, and swore to himself with eyes full of vengeance, "Soon, it will be done. For you, _all for you!_"

*****

It was custom that after every play, there was to be a celebration party at the nearest Leatherby's. And this night was practically the strangest exception in Drama history. Like part of some predictable story, no one wanted to celebrate anything. Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, but with the audience's naïve perception of reality, this might as well have been part of the show. Actors, actresses and stagehands alike felt their share of abuse and inferiority. Through the voices of the inexperienced underclassmen the entire event would be documented, much to the concern of the parents.

The one that felt more rotten than anyone was Isabel, who massaged her shoulders robotically, as if trying to warm them up in an environment that was at the right temperature, but even the sight of it gave her serious chills. The ill-fated fire in her had blown over, as it did in Sally and Ashton, yet they didn't even dare to look each other in the eye, being highly conscious of what had just happened. Listless, the girl stood up, and walked to the front to help organize and put away the props used in the destroyed production. Once or twice she had to talk to her enemies about meaningless nothings, about where people were and where a certain vase was supposed to be placed.

*****

The first of the three, among the others involved in the play, walked out of the PAC through a side door, shoulders still carrying around an invisible weight. Even Ashton knew when it was time to admit defeat, and he did so in such an unwilling way, the people that knew him as a man of pure superiority and invincibility were taken aback at his stature when announcing the cancellation of that act. And those that knew him as kind, even gentlemanly, were shocked when they realized how cruel the beast inside of him could be, victimizing a fellow classman—a girl no less! He tried to ignore their gawking at his actions, but knew what he did that time was of a big mistake, and a high drop in I.Q. due to his overflow of anger and frustration. In short, he was beginning to repent himself of his actions, but was stopped short of doing so.

When the yellow hedgehog was under the black sky, a figure stood in his path, blocking his way at every step he took. Taking this as a joke, the boy raised his voice at the other, "Hey, man—let me walk here, will you?" he gave a laugh, "Very funny, Jason!"

"Who's this Jason?" came a deep, menacing tone of voice, making the Drama King freeze in apprehension. Surely this must be someone he knew, but…

"Who are you?? Heh- if the moon was out I'd be able to see you by now." Ashton mumbled. He looked around him and noticed that there was no one else in familiarity with him. No one around, as a matter of fact. Only a pair of orbs were piercing through him, and through the absence of light, there was a trace of a red glow within them. The boy gasped in terror, "Red eyes?!"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"Red eyes! That must mean—

"That must mean--?"

"That must mean you're that delinq—guy! You were with Isabel that one time!"

Shadow laughed as if something was stuck in his throat, in the worst manner possible, almost making the boy shrink in upon himself. "Good job—you've figured out who I am. You're a lot smarter than I thought, Herald. Now if only you could use that in real life."

Just the echo of his words made the producer wish it was all just some nightmare, a game of some sort, but not this! Before he could do a thing the black hedgehog came inches, centimeters up to his face, the faint stench of liquor putting the yellow one into a state of alarm.

"I hope you know why I'm here, Herald."

"I… do??"

"…Idiot." With a swipe of the gun in his hand Ashton fell to the ground. He put his clammy hand up to the cheekbone, and felt it was wet—and with what he never wanted to find out. The one over him gave a harsh whisper right in his severed ear, "I heard everything you said to her. You insulted her through your own damned insecurities! You don't deserve to live on your life as Mr. Perfect like nothing ever happened."

Eyes shot wider than ever, "What do you mean?!" It was at this point that Shadow pinned his neck down to the ground with a heavy foot, applying pressure onto the throat. "I know what I did to her, Shadow! I--!" More pressure, and the victim was beginning to choke.

"You what?! You _what?!_"

"--- I—I'm sorry!"

"You're sorry??" The hedgehog took his foot off and literally dragged the frightened one up to his feet by the collar, "You're _sorry?!_"

"Yes--- I am!" Gasping for breath, eyes again bloodshot for a different reason—"I really am! I shouldn't have done that—I shouldn't have insulted her! I've repented see! _Repented!!_"

The red eyes just narrowed, "Once a beast, always a beast!" With the strength that Ashton had left, he yelled aloud, unheard by anyone except the one in front of him--

"Well that's easy for you to say! You're not far off from being one yourself!!"

This broke the thin stretched string that was Shadow's marred conscience. Ashton was down on the ground again after being hit with the shaft of the gun once more, accompanied with a slash across the side of his arm by the switchblade--

"_WHAT?!_ ME—A _BEAST?!_" A rapid brutal kick to the face and the gun was put into the crevice of the actor's mouth. With nose and arm bleeding he was brought back to his feet, scared and out of mind—

"NEVER—CALL ME THAT." The gun was cocked, bullet ready, "AND- Let ME tell YOU something—_You_ are the inferior one!_ You_ will amount to _nothing_!" Tears flooded Ashton's umber eyes, knowing it was going to happen—"_You_ _will die_—!"

In that verbal chaos was the abrupt gunshot into the victim's brain, with the face virtually imploding. More blood burst through the broken nose, and some through the torn eardrums. His eyes were wide with alarm, and stone dead. The cold corpse was thrust onto the concrete, followed by a sickening crack of the skull.

"--_Alone._"

The world was put back onto it axis, and time resumed its position. Within a minute of the killing the hybrid ground squirrel came around the same way out of the PAC. Before Shadow could make his escape the foul smell of flesh wafted into her nose. She too noticed the figure that was in front of her, and was taken aback when she realized that she had steeped onto a soft heap. When she found out it was the once-perfect co producer on the ground, splattered with crimson, she screamed shrilly, and tried to run away to get help for the poor actor, but was caught by the arm by the one she never knew—only to have her dose of lead go right into her fast beating heart.

"_No witnesses._"

Her corpse was arranged in such a repulsive way: As if the black hedgehog was playing with dolls, he had her arms wrapped around the waist of the boy like they were lovers. To make things worse, he postured them up to the tree, making it seem they were still alive at first glance.

"Never again!" Shadow laughed in hysteria, turning around just in time to see his beloved queen of hearts to exit the building, which was now unlit and in darkness. They were alone. Sheila was surprised through her torment to see her so-called lover therein front of her.

"Sha—Shadow. You're here." She was greeted by a cold smirk, with no intention of even giving her a hug.

"Yes, I'm here. Happy, aren't you?"

"Where were you all this time?!"

"I was keeping watch over you—all this time." The violet hedgehog was confused,

"What do you mean—all this time??" The man chuckled in the darkest manner possible,

"I finally found the sources to your problems!"

With no explanation the girl was thrown towards the trunk of the tree, and through sheer luck she stopped herself from colliding with it, only to stop herself from breathing— Under the clouded light of the moon, the most nauseating sight she had ever encountered was in plain sight—There! In front of her eyes! The three people she had just been involved with and had hurt her in some way, shape or form this night—all horrendously mutilated, and with blood everywhere. The one on the far right made her eyes sting with newfound sorrow—

Sobbing, she wrapped her arms around the dead weasel, "Jewel! She was _my friend!!_"

"And so she was. But she was more of an acquaintance, _don't you think? _She _did_ leave when you needed her most, _didn't she?_" Isabel's eyes were a horrendous shade of red, and she rammed herself into his stomach and toppled him over, beating him every which way that she could think of, full to the brim with tears,

"You _killed_ her! _You killed her!!_" A punch to his face, and otherworldly kicks, "And you even killed _them! Them!_ Haven't I told you that even _they_ didn't deserve to die?! _Why did you do this?!"_ Now weak slaps across his face,

"_Why?!_"

"Because!" Like if nothing hit him, yet covered with bruises, he got on his feet and grabbed at the girl's face, squeezing it with his scarlet-stained fingers. His ridiculous smile opening up to let out his demonic laughter echoing within her mind, along with the sudden thunder that was heard from up above,

"_I LOVE YOU!_"

He rammed his tongue into the girl's mouth and let it travel every which way, suffocating her again. She could not believe that this was happening! This couldn't have been the boy she knew years ago, when he was under the care of his caring guardians. This could not be the boy whom she laughed with on the rides that first date to that theme park--! _Guardians?! His guardians!! I have to find them!_

Before fainting from the jumpstart to her weakened heart, she gave another jab at the man's face, getting him on the nose, from which came a small _crk! _and bled on ran as fast as she could, with the male hedgehog not far from her, ridden with madness and lust for the new victim—wanting nothing more than to be with her. And if she refused—"_I'll find a way to make you be with me forever!!_"

*****

--------------------------------------

Author: OMG oober long chapter and *counts* 4 killings! omg!! Twisted is good.

**(Rant Mode On)** So, okay-- You got down the part where Ashton brings along a cane and insults my character yeah yeah yeah???

That actually happened! That was the pinnacle of Drama within Drama that I've ever experienced in my life!! OMG people thought I'd kill the guy you know! Shit!! I should have noticed the other instances where others were degraded like this but I never thought I'd get affected! Damn was I wrong!! And of course I'm not one to stay angry for long I just took the last of it and went along with the rest of the day. No the dude wasn't killed but... you know.. I do realize we both contributed to the event.. We're just human beings and we're flawed like that...

I still have a grudge against him even though he already graduated.. I confronted him about it before I left and he said it was all good he had the same problem with other people... He's still a Drama King no matter what. :\ **(Rant Mode off)**


	11. Friday: Be Mine, Valentine

-Friday: Be Mine, Valentine-

Running for her life, the girl was able to reach the parking lot, with the boy not far behind. Blindly did she search around for that car that would provide her getaway, accomplishing to do so seconds later. From her jeans pocket she took out her keys and tried to find the insert within the car door. When she did, she spun her head around only to find the male hedgehog right in front of her. She gave a shriek before kicking him in the stomach and sent him sprawling. Working on adrenaline she slammed the car door and put the key into the ignition, and twisted it in its place hard. Not even looking behind herself, she quickly put it into reverse and sped off onto the street. At that point Shadow was already mounted on his motorcycle and was on his way to pursue the poor girl.

Luckily the streets were practically empty this time of night. From the dashboard Isabel could see that it was 10:30 as she swiped perspiration off her forehead, trying to navigate herself through the fastest way to get to the psychopath's neighborhood. Not caring that she was well over the speed limit, it didn't matter as she got to her destination on time. As soon as she added a boost of acceleration to the engine, there was an abrupt gunshot sounding right behind her. From the rearview mirror she could she the black hedgehog, with a determined look upon his face, shooting at her car, trying to cripple it. If he was lucky enough he could rip a fuel line, this making the girl easier to catch.

To avoid the situation, Isabel began making swerves to confuse the boy, and even went through a detour to try and lose the predator, and it seemed like it worked—she couldn't see him anywhere now! She took a quick glance at the dashboard again, and her eyes widened as she realized that she had almost run out of fuel anyhow. Right then she caught sight of the street Shadow lived on, and made a severe sharp turn, nearly ramming herself into a tree. The car lost all power when the girl was right in front of her crazed lover's house. The lights were off, but she was sure that his adopted parents would be in there somewhere. She had to warn them and had to notify the police right away.

She stumbled out of the car and landed on her knees, and got up as quick as she fell and ran up to the door, knocking on it loudly and repeatedly,

"Hey! Anybody home?! Open the door! _Please!!_"

No answer. The girl looked all around her and could only see that guy's demonic smile, driving her right out of the sanity that was left within her mind. Again she knocked the door heavily, and even kicked and pushed on it, but all in vain. Then, believing that it would never work, she simply turned the doorknob: It opened with ease.

Almost ecstatic with her luck, she ran though the open doorway, and fell on the floor again, using her hands to search around for the nearest phone—anything that would be of help to her. When she scampered through the living room to get to the kitchen, she tripped on a lumpy object and fell on her face, bruising her chin. Without thought she turned her head around to find out what the object was, and could only see the faint outline of a highly familiar face. The sudden smell of the usual perfume made her realize it was another one of her friends. The tears made their way back into the girl's eyes, as she confronted death once again, holding Amy's limp hand within hers. She tried her best to contain her cries after she saw the girl's split open neck, but it was useless. Even if the last moment shared together was bittersweet, there was still some room in Isabel's heart to care for her as well.

In that moment the violet hedgehog forgot about her mission, and as soon as she regained consciousness, a dark figure was standing right over her, breathing down her neck,

"It's quite a shame, isn't it??"

Already feeling that she had lost everything, she looked up at Shadow, whose red eyes glittered with cruelty. His lips were parted to reveal his fangs as he gave a series of strokes up and down her pale cheeks with the blade of the knife, laughing quietly all the while, "It's a shame… Apparently Amy liked me as much as you did. I had to teach her that trying to cheat on your friend was wrong. She got what she deserved."

Receiving the news that Amy was secretly infatuated with Shadow could not surprise the girl in the slightest. She didn't care anymore, not even of the fact that the blade strokes down her face were becoming shallow slashes, "No. She never deserved it."

Getting up hesitantly, she looked the other hedgehog in the face and made her way into the kitchen, with the madness building up again inside her heart. In the black hole she was able to find a light switch, which never turned on. Gulping down all insecurity in futility, she reached for the kitchen phone hanging right on the wall, with the male right behind her again, securing a hold on her shoulder. The switchblade was right at her waist. Any hasty movement would lead to a next killing, so very slowly did she bring up the receiver to the side of her face, and dialed 911.

Instead of getting the signal, all she could hear was nothing.

The girl looked down at the wire at the point when a burst of lightning flashed, and saw that it was cut off from the wall.

"I thought you would try this phone… and every other one." The boy whispered in her ear. The switchblade was put away, and in its place was wandering hands, traveling every which way. Isabel just stood there, making no ill intention of trying to get away, like an idiot. _It's over. I should just give in. I'm damn finished… I'm damn finished…_

While all this happened, her mind clarified for a split second as her head began to throb uncontrollably with the worst ache within her heart. Now all she could see were images of the people she had been involved with for the past three weeks. Everyone—even her enemies and mere accomplices: Shadow, Amy, Tikal, Mr. Blevins, Veronica, Sally, Ashton, Jewel, Sonic…

Sonic_… I know what's wrong with him, Iz. He's a maniac— _The switchblade was taken out again to make tiny incisions on the victim's wrist and on her hands, carving out meaningless designs… _Use your common sense_… A second echoing of faint memories, knife placed back in the boy's pocket and the girl was turned to face him, and now licks into the side of the girl's neck, pulling at the side of her collar and bringing it down her shoulder…

_The problem you're facing is right there in front of you but you ignore it!_

The problem… the problem…

"THE PROBLEM IS_ YOU_, SHADOW!"

Even if the pain in her whole body had shot up to the third degree, it immediately regained strength that she never knew she had. By the time the couple had been taken of the dark trance, Shadow had been pushed right into the countertop corner, jabbing him in the back. This was accompanied by swift punches into his face and kicks to his abdomen, knocking him out of balance and right onto the kitchen floor. His head hit the tile, but was still conscious, but before he could get up, an iron skillet grabbed from the shelf hit him multiple times with as much force as Isabel's arms could allow. Then it was tossed aside, and a hand grabbed for the male's throat, and applied pressure at every second. The girl grit her teeth as she caught a glimpse of Shadow's alarmed expression.

The anger boiling up within the girl was something she had never felt before, shaking every bone in her body, being truly angry at one person: herself. Because of her all this happened in her blind favor, but seeing his suffering would bring back nothing. Her heart was not as warped and rotten as this guy's was, so the grip on his neck loosened uncontrollably, as her breathing became shallow.

Now there was a thick hand at her neck, pressing at her windpipe. The black hedgehog's eyes were bloodshot and were narrowed to all seriousness. The smirk that was once on his face became a scowl, with a menacing glare in those garnet orbs. He got up from his laying position, dragging the female to her feet as well. He raised an eyebrow and asked plainly, "Why did you do that for?"

Giving the girl no chance to speak, he let go of her neck, only to throw her onto the living room carpet, right on top of Amy's corpse. He got down over Isabel and smacked her across the face,

"You want to take a poke at me??" Another abrupt, strong smack at her mouth, which bled on impact, "Don't try to disobey me, you bitch!" Instead of taking his orders, Isabel kicked at his stomach again to get him off, and with the second she needed, got to the flight of stairs that led to the bedrooms, where surely his parents would be sleeping. Before she could take a couple steps, a rough hand grabbed at her quills and the other at her shoulder, pulling her back. Prying away from them as she could, she endured jabs to the back of her head and kicks trying to knock the wind out of her, and finally turned around to fight back, giving a high kick to his chin, making Shadow stumble.

She sprinted up the stairs and tripped and fell at the last few steps, making her vulnerable. When she tried to get back up the other hedgehog kicked at the back of her head, right at the spot where he bruised weeks ago, making the girl writhe in pain. Her arms were secured by one of his hands, and had his legs kick at Isabel's sides, "Give up yet?!"

"_Never!!"_ The girl wriggled around, trying to break free, screaming at the top of her lungs hysterically to wake up his parents. Nothing was there to greet them. The taste of blood in her mouth was repeatedly spat out, as there was another series of strikes across her face and at her head, trying to make her lose all awareness of the situation. It was then when Isabel caught sight of her red-violet hair quills in the dull lightning accompanied by rare thunder, regaining the likeness of a strand of dark-brown hair of a thousand. She was changing back into her human form, making her a lot more susceptible to the blows given off by the black crimson-stained hedgehog. Her whole head was covered in bruises, as were her sides. Her eyes, tired from the entire thrill, began to droop down heavily, even though the rest of the body was struggling to keep free, but giving out in a matter of minutes.

Sensing that she had lost, Shadow just peered down over her and gave another kick to the head before grabbing her by the collar to haul her over to the nearest bedroom. He threw the limp body onto the mattress, and went over to the window and closed the blinds, and then went to the door, to shut and lock it.

The digital clock at the corner of the room showed digits, reading 11:15pm. How time flies, thought an unconscious girl, with eyes barely opened. When she realized where she had been, and what she was doing, the sockets were opened wide. She desperately tried to find a way out of her trance, as the blows to her head only allowed her to think of the most random subjects. The next couple of minutes were spent trying to regain sense of mind and body. When feeling came back into her hands and arms, Isabel tried to support herself on the mattress under her, only to be pushed down by an external force,

"Why the hell are you trying to get away from me?"

_That voice is so familiar, why am I hearing it now?? _

"I own you." As a man's hands applied pressure to the girl's shoulders in an aggressive way, she knew exactly what was going on around her own self. Isabel was desperate, and reached for the nearest object that she could find within her grasp to strike at the male hedgehog over her. As Shadow felt the blow at his mouth from his own sketchbook, he took a swipe at it and let it fly across the room to hit the far wall. He then began to choke the girl viciously, and if that wasn't enough, rammed his mouth into hers and took all the oxygen she had left within her throat. That absence of air almost let the Hispanic fall from reality once again. Acting with feeble strength, she fought the predator again, letting her legs do all the work. When it seemed that he had loosened his grip, she rolled over and collapsed on the hardwood floor from the side of the bed, having her forehead hit the corner of the cabinet as she did so.

What Isabel felt around her now was a heavy, lumpy piece of luggage. Something in her mind told her that it was a body bag, as it was tainted with dark substance, now crusted and old. The stench of rotting corpses made her reach for her bleeding head, instead of her nose. She was so soiled with grief and loss of hope to wail at the death staring at her in the face, through a burlap sack. There was no denying it…

"While you were in the hospital I had taken out the remainder of my anger on my guardians. They never knew what hit them. They always thought they were the clever ones…"

The girl was tossed in the likeness of a rag doll onto the mattress again, given another bruising to one of her sides. She was far too tired to care anymore, but at the same time was ridden with silent fear, that clutched at her heart.

"I guess I proved them wrong…" As if it were any other day of the week, Shadow then asked the victim in monotone, "Why don't you love me?"

Anger flashed within those brown pools of the girl's being, along with another jab at the guy's face, causing him to bleed at the mouth. There was no way that she was going to love him after all this.

"In your dreams."

The conscious mind died again within her, and before she was revived she felt an abrupt slap at her own face. A faint smell of metal reached the maimed nostrils, and another blow struck again at her forehead and then at her bosom, trying to hit an object between her lungs running out of air. An absentminded palm caught the next strike, grasping it and bringing it to the owner's attention. From what the girl sought through her scarlet-tinted image was a belt, made out of leather. It seemed that the buckle dripped a liquid unknown to her, but the subtle smell was unmistakable. She was to use the weapon against her enemy as it was taken away from her, the razor sharp edges running through her palm, slicing her right hand.

The sudden pain in that foreign spot woke her up again, almost making her sit up, if it weren't for the hedgehog pinning her down once more. When Shadow's arm fell for another whipping at his victim, the girl bit into his clothed skin, making him laugh. As he continued attacking the defenseless teenager, he spoke, "You idiot. You're not in your Mobian form right now! You have no fangs!" As the severity of the whips increased and as the blood flew, he cackled, crimson flowing from his own mouth—

"Give up already-_ dammit!!_"

Isabel could see no end to this, wanting nothing more to die than to ever please this damned creep.

"Why don't you love me?! _Answer me!!_"

_Answer you? _More liquid from his mouth. _But I don't want to—_The human looked up, blocking the blows in vain. Something had gone astray in this boy's features. His face was a pale reflection, and the once glowing red eyes had lost their luster. Before she could understand his illegitimate speech a drop of salty dew fell onto her cheek. Her eyes widened at the overhearing of Shadow's words,

"You're such an idiot! _You fucking brat!_" He shed a number of tears, throwing more blows by the minute, metal tearing through and through, "_What do you think you're doing??! What do you think we got you for?!_"

_Talking… in the third person?? _

"_Be lucky that you're still alive!!_" The hedgehog began to sob uncontrollably, much to Isabel's shock. She took her chance and raised her leg feebly but gave a swift kick into his stomach, which sent him sprawling onto the hardwood floor. The girl swore that she heard a crack, but didn't look back as she unlocked and jolted out the bedroom door, nearly tripping over the corpses, dashing down the staircase to reach the screened patio door.

Once she had made it out, the withering Mexican took long gulps of air, swallowing a vat of blood to go along with it. The taste was unbearable, and she was sure that she was going to vomit. Her tinted vision had not failed her. It seemed as if she escaped that surreal nightmare, and all that spun in her head was a web of torture and bloodshed.

She collapsed on the grass blades, and a clap of thunder sounded, accompanied by a downpour. The cool water rolled down the human's maimed body, washing out the excess of her loose body fluids. In pain as she was, Isabel took her sliced hand and raised herself up with it, not caring that a mound of dirt lodged itself in the crevice. Her legs extended, out of breath, she made her way toward the front of the house. A figure soaked in the rain bared its teeth, further darkened by the atmosphere, took a choking hold on her bruised throat,

"You thought you were going to get away from me, _didn't you??_"

_No… No… _The spell of lethargic sleep cast over eyes again. Why she had the incapacity to die was irrelevant. She wanted to parish than having to bear the death of another loved one… She was thrown to the ground and the man came upon her, eyes bloodshot and tears in his eyes. His right arm shook violently as he brought it up to the girl's face. Her eyes drooped severely, not making another attempt to get away from him.

_Maybe I should have just let him rape me… I'd be gone either way…_

"If you don't succumb to me," Shadow put the switchblade to her pale, pale lips, a whisper, "_I won't give you to anyone else!_"

A small slit at the edge of the girl's mouth, "You're such an idiot." _I'm a fuckin' idiot._

The girl lay there, waiting for Death that never came. A weight from the water shawl struck at the back of the boy's head, and cracked into two pieces. From the shelter of the surrounding trees Tikal stood out, holding the half of the late tombstone, once against the picket fence. A look of determination came upon the echidna's face as Shadow grabbed at his throbbing head and whirled about to face his new opponent.

_This has got to be a dream._

"This is no dream, Isabel my dearest… friend." The newcomer smiled as the black hedgehog made a lunge for her, but missed. Now it seemed as if even the Ultimate Creature had his limits. He panted slightly, and placed his hand on his mouth, bleeding superfluously. The victim's thoughts continued to leak through, heavy dew hitting her skewed being.

_Dear God… Tikal—don't…! _ Isabel was paralyzed in mind and body, pain shooting from everywhere—up her throat— "Everything will be fine, my everlasting companion."

_NO!!_

The echidna continued to dodge the boy with his slowing reflexes, swiping at him with the larger half of the tombstone. She might have won, if it hadn't been for the piece of alloy that was taken out of the guy's pocket on a whim. All Isabel could hear was the sound of a gack! and the thump of a nearby mass at her feet. Had she enough air in her lungs the human would have screamed in horror, but only emitted a frightened whimper.

The dominant anthropomorph stared down at her, gun in hand. He was no longer smiling, nor frowning. Just dead silence amidst the falling precipitation. He took the handle and guided it to his ex-lover's heart. The garnet orbs narrowed, and the hedgehog took a deep, deep breath,

"I loved you once. You betrayed me…" a cock of the gun— "Die."

_At last!_

_Everything was a blur. _The explosion jingled in Isabel's ears. Instead of finding the light at the end of the tunnel, the shot was whistled away. Death had failed her for the second time. The girl wanted to weep aloud. The instant struggling of bodies was enough to snap her of the temptation. She opened her eyes as much as weak strength would let her.

There was a swirl of blue, black and red matted fur, twisting each other into the ground. Crimson flowed from its two sources. The gun was tossed aside, as it was now useless to its owner. A sling was carelessly torn away from the blue hedgehog's limb. The girl gasped, but was halted by a stinging sensation in her throat, making her choke and cough on her own blood and something more foul tasting. She gathered what was left of her air and groaned in the most hoarse voice imaginable,

"Don't kill him… Shadow! Leave Sonic alone… please!" It was then that the handicapped creature's body draped over her body, trying to block the blows coming from the other. This sickening déjà vu thrust the girl into a new wave of nausea—

Sonic got up hastily and took the piece of granite from cold fingers and hurled it straight at the Lifeform's head, which skinned and bled on impact. Shadow nearly lost all consciousness, and tumbled back onto the slick mud. At this opportunity the girl's captor took her in his arms and ran back inside the house to find the kitchen, stepping in Amy's carcass. Yelping in terror he made his way to the tile floor, but so realized the phone was cut off from the line. He immediately caught sight of Shadow in the patio doorway and ran up the staircase, and smelled the rot within the predator's room, turned away out of sanity and bolted into the parents' room and locked the door.

Isabel felt herself set upon the bed, and a cry burrowed within her before Sleep took a hold of her—

NO!! WHY?! WHY AGAIN?!! NOT THIS!!!

Bangs at the wooden door. Shrieks and screams through the barrier—"_GODDAMMIT!! LET ME IN-- BITCH!! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE—ALONE!!!"_

More kicks, and futile lunges at the slab of lumber, "_DON'T LEAVE ME HERE ALONE!! ISABEL!" _

A flow and splatter of a substance on the floor in revolt, "Please… I'm sorry…" More sobs, "Let me in… I'm truly, truly sorry…"

The hits on the door lessened. The choking tears from the twisted male's eyes became overt…

Sonic glared at the door for as long as his stinging lime orbs would bear. He wiped away dirt from his eye and looked over the feeble, beaten girl with great guilt and sympathy. The only sound heard was the rolling thunder and pattering of uncaring shower upon the window and on the ground below.

A hand was raised, holding a glowing screen, smeared with a clear scarlet.

------------------------------------------------

Author: I feel dreadfully sorry for Shadow in this! He's crying the human flaws of society and its bad raps!! ;_;


	12. Saturday: True Love Knows No Boundaries

-Saturday: True Love Knows No Boundaries-

The wall clock read 4:30 am. The waterfall had soothed down to a drizzle, and the night still reigned. Two corpses lay on the hard stained bed, distanced away from each other. Orbs opened themselves lethargically, facing the wooden portal not too far from them. No sound was made on the other side, thus it was assumed that everything was fine for the time being. The owner of the eyes turned his head around carefully and looked down at the victim in a state of sorrow. It was a miracle that Life had even made it this far within the girl's frail bosom. Bits of flesh were folded over like tissues and the blood at the wounds had become coagulated.

Not a single dream made its way to its otherwise unfaithful sleep. This entire thing must have been a lurid nightmare, nothing more. Little did she know, it was quite far from being a fragment of her imagination…

A shaking coral hand reached for the pale cheek, and it quivered violently in fear of reality.

Isabel's eyes shot wide open, bloodshot, glaring straight into Sonic's quizzical expression. The girl yelled in alarm and suddenly growled without warning. Before the hedgehog had time to react, an arm threw itself upward and hit him square in the jaw—

"_Get away from me!_"

He fell back upon the bed and a feminine weight pressed against him as blows were given every which way in the blindest manner possible. His arm was merely touched, but it was enough to make him bite his lip in agony, holding back a sudden scream. He realized that something was amiss in her own self, apart from the impulsive hysteria that erupted in her—

"_Get away from me Get away from me Get away from me you freak! You sick bastard!!_"

Even as the blows pummeled all over, Sonic did not even try for one instant to defend himself. He felt as though he were responsible for what had happened. He deserved it completely.

Tears fell from nowhere. Curses flew. More blows upon him.

It took her about five minutes to realize that she had been maiming the wrong hedgehog, and took back her arms to her sides, quite hesitantly. They gazed at each other through a red lens, and the Hispanic shifted her weight and left the bed, looking out the window for something… Nothing was muttered for a while...

"Where's Tikal?"

Isabel opened the glass barrier and leaned forward out of the window threateningly, making Sonic rush to her side, easing her back. Water flew from within as the girl twisted her neck hastily, dew sprinkling onto the cobalt's face.

"Where… is… Tikal??" Voice lowered to a whisper, mouth twisted into a grimace, hands out reaching toward the other creature's neck as he spoke,

"I… don't know where she is…" His meek reply.

The girl's mouth twitched, "Is she… _alive??_" The open hands were then wrapping around the being, right over his throat. Sonic's eyelids inched up higher as the pressure increased upon his windpipe. No emotion was played on the human's face, and one of the creature's arms began to shake violently.

The pressure tightened, "Where is she?!"

He relaxed his muscles in hopes he would breathe for a while longer, needing it to respond, "I—don't, know—if…" gasping for air in a limited space, "If—she's still alive…!"

Isabel let go suddenly, looking him square in the pupils of his eyes, trying to find some truth in them. She was ridiculed with disbelief, and she paced around the room, staring straight ahead, right through the hedgehog, and stopped in front of the window again, staring straight down at the ground below. She slid her mud-encrusted hand down one of the frame panels, expressionless still. The anthropomorph stood right in the same position; time was repeating itself. Quite an alternate ending, something acted out differently.

She attempted to jump out the window.

Perching herself on the edge must have given out a clue, but the murkiness of his brain couldn't function until the last moment. Sonic lunged for her waist and wrapped both his arms around it, utilizing the current strength he possessed to pull her back out of the rain.

"_Agh!_" The sudden force upon her had churned within her and released new sickness, imagining of her friend's corpse in the grass. Before she could aid to it, a wave of vomit flew out of her mouth, releasing all disgust from all the death that she'd witnessed. But that didn't stop her from resisting as the gravity and rain carried it away.

She kicked about, dangling from the windowsill, trying to pry his arms away with bites and scratches all over, taking in tons of precipitation and spitting it out to wash away the foulness. Isabel screamed in frustration as she felt her body go the opposite direction of gravity and back into the room, collapsing on her back to see full view of Sonic's fright.

"… You…" She spun her body around, getting up on the support of her hands, no longer minding the cuts reopening in them. Before Sonic reacted, she lunged towards him and knocked him down onto the cold hardwood floor—

"_Bastard! What the hell did you do?!_" Screaming frantically while punching him on the sides of his face, drawing out more blood. He grit his teeth at the throbbing of his cheek muscles, holding back his self defense once again—

"Can't you _understand_ what I'm trying to do?! Tikal's _dead!_ _They're all dead!! _I'm trying to get away from this sick twisted world! I'm _done_ with this _goddamned life!!_"

Something clicked in the cobalt hedgehog's mind.

"I've hated it ever since I was old enough to fuckin' _think! _I can't live with anyone. I can't love or be loved without goddamned consequences!"

Sonic thrust his arms up and secured a hold on her wrists—

"_Let me go!!_"

He had not the slightest intention to do so, and got up on his knees. Flagrant weeping came from the female as she tried to push him away, shouting hysterics—

"I hate you I hate you _I hate you Sonic the Hedgehog!!! All you guys are all alike with your fuckin' control over women! All of you betray, abuse, and fuck a girl without remorse!! What the hell do you have to say to that?!_"

"I'm not like everybody else!"

"—Oh, _sure_ you're not, you damn liar! _You fucker!!_"

The boy bared his fangs, not caring for a forever handicapped arm, and pinned down the female with newfound force—

"What are you _saying?!_" he growled—

The girl struggled to get this new weight off, repeating events from hours back, wounds opening with every limb she thrust forward. All the other did was hold her down with a stern face, whispering in her ear when she flailed—

"_Let go of me! Let go of me!!_" she sobbed

"I'm not going to until you calm down…"

"_Off! Get off!!_"

"… Please calm down…"

The girl took shallow breaths. The salty dew on her face polluting the fresh dampness of her physique, "Get off! Get off… please… off…"

The grip on her shoulders loosened, arms shaking. Sonic bit his lip holding back tears from the unforgiving use of the broken limb… Brought it to his side, vainly supporting it with the other. The girl wept quietly now, looking up at the creature, trying to be sympathetic. She pushed herself back and got on her feet,

"Leave me alone, Sonic."

He stood up anyway and reached for her shoulder as she turned her back to him,

"Don't touch me." He did anyhow—

"_Don't touch me!!_" A slap at his bruised face, burning of rejection… Tears formed in the boy's eyes.

"Ah, trying to trick me into feeling sorry for you?? It won't work on me again--"

"But I… love you, so much--"

"Don't sweet talk with me. You're all alike. I hate every single one of you."

The dewdrops fell onto the bedspread and the girl caught sight of the puddles sinking in, "I know what you're trying to do…" She leered at the other, "This is the best chance that you got to sleep with me, ain't it?"

Sonic choked as the salt water reached inside the windpipe—"That's—it's not true! Isabel--"

"_Listen to me. _Do you have any idea what just happened to me? I was almost raped, but got severely beaten by the guy I once loved—look at these!" showing off blood dribbling down her hands and face—"You knew something was going wrong the whole time. I knew something was wrong with you when I asked if you could come to the play!"

"But… I—I never knew that _this_ would happen—I'm--"

"Of course you did! You're the one that kept on telling me that he was a _maniac!_"

A bitter overtone within Sonic's reply, "But you never listened to me, did you?"

The orbs within his red-rimmed darkened to a mossy green. The girl flinched erratically, and eased into the bed, bringing up a stained pillow to her dead face… "They're all dead because of me."

"You're… not the one that killed them…"

The sternness had melted down to a weak sorrow. He loosened and walked toward the mattress, sitting on the edge of it. They couldn't look each other in the face for a long time.

"This is the first time it's happened to you. It's not your fault, really—

"Shut up."

_Shut up. _The words blew through Sonic's head like wind chimes. He turned around to see her back, trying to rest a while longer. More tears ran down his face as he tried to grab a hold of the sliced hand by stretching out the good arm. It was smacked away…

All Sonic could do was take the arm back and face forward—out that dark window, rain coming through—Crying, shivering all the while…

"You could have let me kill myself."

*****

"Urghh… What…" A fallen creature's limbs twitched ever so slightly, its organs beginning to awake once more, "What… happened—

A hand reached for the floor and found a vat of vomit, strewing it between its fingers.

"What the hell--? Agh…" Eyelids drooped and fell a number of times before regaining vision in dewed eyes. All it saw was a sickly yellow. The creature shifted its head from side to side lethargically, adjusting to its surroundings… Shadow had only taken a minute to realize where he was, and when he did, the garnet speckled orbs shot wide—

"_Isabel!_"

Hastily getting to his knees despite the substance they were in he peered in through one of the cracks of the door, holding sight of the girl laying upon the bed, and a boy sleeping next to her—but not with her.

That was beyond the matter. Rage boiled in the black hedgehog's veins, and brought back his inhuman strength—

The cobalt creature awoke to the smash against the bedroom door, and saw a fist through it skinned by the contact flying to the lock and twisting it—

Isabel was still out. It all happened so fast.

Shadow burst into the room wildly, full blood red eyes focused vividly on his target—a flash of silver jutted out from his pocket as he took out the blade and brought it up high, screaming at the top of his lungs—

"_JUST DIE!!_"

As soon as the victim awoke Sonic yelped and threw himself over her and felt the multitude of stabs hack through his body—his organs—from the man's deadly blows. The blood flew as Isabel screamed aloud at her live shield—that liquid flowing from the boy's mouth as life flew out of him.

She threw off the barrier and dodged the next attack--Shadow grabbed her wrist and wrung it in a way it would have snapped—pulling her back to the knife. The kick out of the blue sent him sprawling over and off the bed, reaching the window's side.

The otherworldly stamina that burst within made the girl take another kick at his face and stomach. The disturbed hedgehog's hold on the weapon loosened for a millisecond, but enough for her to snatch it away and throw it behind her. Isabel stomped on his heaving chest, taking her swelling hands to Shadow's collar and brought him up to a limp stand, punching him in the face with those bleeding fists—

The male entered a state of alarm as he when he was being pushed back to the windowsill, not believing what stood before him—cold, callous—Cruel. The spitting image of his true self, forcing him out the window when the world spun around abnormally. Eyes flickered frantically for a way to get off their last thrill ride—

The head cracked on the wet grass, two stories below.

The gray skies in the foggy morning, unwelcoming as they always were, peered over the casualty before them. The ruby lost its luster, converting to white around, stayed open. Scarlet flowed from the creature's mouth, matting his black and red fur and all over the clothed body. His neck displayed a replica of the first victim. He laid sprawled out on the ground—still frozen in shock. The predator was as good as dead.

Isabel never paid attention to these details, flinging herself around Sonic's shallowly breathing carcass. The wounds on his back gushed profusely, and gave no intention of slowing down—

"_Sonic?!_" She brought up his lingering face to her own, "_Sonic??!_"

No answer from his throat.

"Sonic? Answer me—Sonic…"

A hand went up to her skinned cheek, leaving it there to stroke the leathered flesh,

"Sonic?" The girl touched his hand, wrapping her now delicate fingers around it…

The Hispanic's eyes watered when they met the all-too-familiar lime green eyes, red rimmed from suffering. The hedgehog's eyelids dropped as he smiled faintly, grip loosening upon Isabel's face—

"Wait! Open your eyes! Please, _listen!_"

"Shut up."

The phrase sliced through her, and she choked back on her dew right when she was pulled to his freezing lips—Their last kiss, interrupted by intervals of blatant sobbing, made the girl wish they reverted back to their younger selves, when hope was never absent—

His hand fell through hers and fell upon the wood with a thump, relaxed and motionless. The last breath drawn was out in a deep sigh. Every muscle gave away completely. Isabel took her face away recognizing her contact with a corpse…

She still wouldn't believe it.

"_Sonic?_" Death was silent…

"_Sonic!!_" She burst out in tears,

"_You died because of me too!! Dammit- Why?!_"

She banged her bloodied fists against the stucco wall—

"_WHY?!_" The streams of fake water ran down the dangerously pale complexion as she caught sight of the lone switchblade behind her, taking it into possession, holding it to the dim light.

The polished metal gleamed with the liquid of the prey—and she wanted so much to mingle her own with it. The human brought it up to her fast beating heart, ready to strike—

The life she endured for seventeen years flashed before her very eyes—All the pain and suffering, the killings, the madness, the backstabbing—Betrayals.

Something caught in Isabel's throat as she played it all over again, and the knife clanged on the wooden ground… An external force larger than her own threw a new light into her eyes, bringing back memories of laughter, friendship, and… daring to identify it, love. A new intellectual wave seeped through her entire body—The gears of her mind, stuck for so long, began to turn again. Isabel realized she wasn't the only being on the planet to face such hardship. If life had taught her anything, it was that everybody faces obstacles along the way, but carry the capacity to overcome them and move on. It was a feat that seemed unbearable, but could be accomplished if given the willpower.

She wept without shame in notice of this, and, overtaken by a fit of deep sleep, the energy went out as quickly as it came to her physique. The girl collapsed on the hardwood right beside her deceased soul mate.

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Author's Note: Oh come on like we haven't had a tendency to get done with life already?! : I'm still surviving after all this time that's good! (Got pretty bad Junior year though...) *randomly listening and singing* "I don't wanna see you go the sky is over.." (Serj Tankian)

I hope you noticed that I took an element from Ken Kesey's Cuckoo Nest with the "overworldly stamina" my OC got (kinda veers off of Nurse Ratched's "transformation" in front of the ward assistants)


	13. Saturday: Merry Christmas

**You got this far: Last Chapter... Enjoy the dripping sarcasm and irony by the end! :D**

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-Saturday: Merry Christmas (Epilogue)-

Carolers out on the lobby sang those little tunes like angels to Senior citizens. Why would a chorus such as this one sing in a hospital? To lift up spirits? It never mattered since everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. It echoed through the hallways through an array of speakers set up in every floor—On every damned floor. The Emergency Room patients must have either been crazy or tired to speak up against it. They just swayed along to the melody, paying no attention to their deep wounds or detached limbs. Even Isabel, on that first floor, found herself head bopping to "Jingle Bells" when it filtered into her ears, all with a smirk upon her stitched face.

The view out the window of her dimly lit patient room was a glut of blinking rainbow lights and satin bows, and people in their most festive clothing with plastic smiles to balance the dark, cloud-infested morning. Neither the city nor the town had the pleasure to experience the annual snowfall that fell upon neighboring cities. They've grown accustomed to it though, apparently. The girl swore that she saw a snowflake fall when voices sounded in the hallway just outside her room,

"I still can't believe that my only son is dead!" A sudden murmur and shouting—

"You're not the only one that lost their only son, Veronica!" People loudly agreeing—

"My daughter—and their children—found dead at the school! All mutilated! It was a freak show for all of the students of Avalon High to see!"

"Why didn't you have your phone on when Tikal called?!" A loud sob,

"Why are you asking me, May? You were at the convention too! So were you, Rosetta!"

"This is all your fault!" Sonic's mother went in hysterics before muffling her cries,

"Now, now, dear. It's all right, this isn't your fault." The Hispanic guessed it was Mr. Blevins.

"That's right, it's that girl's fault that all of this happened!"

_That girl's fault… _Isabel shifted uncontrollably in the bed until the tubes hooked up to the IV pulled on her arms, making the girl shriek for a split second. It was loud enough for the group to hear, and the human male burst into the room,

"You okay, honey?!" He rushed to the teenager's side as the rest of the adults peered through the door out of curiosity, including Veronica with her red feverish expression, salt water running down her pitiful face. The girl looked up at her teacher and pursed her lips together before gazing over at the parents of her friends and enemies alike, feeling depressed all of a sudden for having to make them come down here. After knowing that their children were killed, they had all right to be angry with her…

"I'm fine…" The blue woman walked into the room by herself, lifting up her pale blue quill hairs to get a better look at the human girl. She stood there, just staring at the sole survivor of the fray… Her eyes watered from the sting in her eyes as she shifted her feet forward,

"I need to talk to these ladies alone for a moment, everyone." Ordered Mr. Blevins with natural authority. They listened and backed away from the door, letting it close on its own. Isabel figured that they would be gluing their ears to the door anyway, so it didn't matter. The man cleared his throat to begin the grim conversation,

"How are you feeling now, dear?"

"Fine thanks." A curt reply.

"I'm sure you're aware that—

"They all died because of me."

"They've all been submitted to the morgue, nine victims total. But Del Castillo, this isn't—

Isabel balled up her hands into fists, "My fault. This is all my fault." Veronica played the third person role up to this point until hearing this sentence,

"It wasn't your fault, dear." The girl swerved her head around and stared at Veronica with wide eyes, as if she just conjured herself out of thin air. The mother sat down next to her and took her hand within the other, "Listen to Mr. Blevins."

The girl blinked for a moment before nodding her head. She turned back to her teacher to let him speak again.

"Well. First off I'd like to inform you that I'm not just a psychology teacher at Avalon. I'm also part of the Witness Protection Program of this here country." At this both women raised their eyebrows.

"Next I need to tell you that I also worked on your case years ago, when you decided to quit that one organization—

"What?" Quite a surprise, she never noticed.

"Yeah you know which one I'm talking about." Veronica certainly didn't, however.

The male cleared his throat before continuing on with his explanation, "I think what would be most informative is the case behind my class delinquent's former actions…"

Sonic's mother's ears perked up as the teen's face lit up at the opportunity, before darkening her features completely at the thought of his dead body spread-eagled out on the damp grass. Isabel took her hands up to eye level and twitched at the sight of her palms. _These hands…_

"Let me begin with his past before he was adopted…" He began to ramble while the mother listened intently. The other just ignored him… _These two hands… These are the ones that killed him when no one else dared to try…_

The girl glared holes into them with unforgiving umber before the corner of her mouth jerked upward… _When no one else had even tried… _

"Something wrong, Del Castillo?" Snapped her out of her trance.

"Hm?" The grin flew off as quick as it came as she cocked her head to the side, "Oh nothing's wrong… Uh… continue, please…"

"All right then, as I was saying…" Isabel looked over at Veronica, brown eyes red-rimmed as the cries reduced down to a whimper. She extended her wired arm and held her hand tight like a little girl would. The girl gave her a soft smile when Mr. Blevins continued on,

"Shadow the Hedgehog was adopted during middle school. I'm sure you've met his guardians before,"

"Yes, I have. We went to the theme park together back in sophomore year. And I've seen them a few more times after that. They were real nice I thought…"

The psychology teacher gave a bit of a frown before going on, "I'm sorry to break it to you, but they were abusive parents. Did you ever notice how he reacted to your mentioning of them, and how he'd distance away from them whenever he got the chance?"

_Abusive parents?_ The girl's mind reminisced for a while before finding herself in Shadow's arms in that empty classroom, and he flinched after the mention of them… Her eyes widened considerably when she smelled the stench of rotting corpses on his bedroom floor again, and his talking in the third person—crying— when she felt the blows of the belt coursing through her body, slicing her hand—

Isabel's screams clattered throughout the hallway when she saw the blood spurting out from every part of her body, tearing and pulling at the sheets to avoid his next attack—!

"_Isabel! Calm down!_" Mr. Blevins grabbed at her wrist and held it tight and tighter still, while Veronica took a grip on her other limb—

"_Please calm down!_"

"_He's gonna KILL ME!!_" The same nurse from three weeks back came into the room and attempted to calm down the insane patient, waving a needle in her hand—

"_YOU ALL GET AWAY FROM ME!!_"

The redhead flashed her emerald eyes, jabbing the syringe into Isabel's throbbing arm, and let its chemical flow into the vein. The girl's orbs shot up before assuming a dazed, glazen look, flopping back into the thin rumpled sheets. The shrieks stopped at once, followed by withering sighs…

"She's going to be normal for now." The nurse walked out of the room, needle still in possession, bumping past the gathering around the patient door. Both the teacher and the sonless mother put their hands to their mouths, in hopes that she was all right…

"… I'm tired. I feel like watching T.V." Isabel yawned while emitting a small giggle, much to their surprise.

Veronica just stared for a while before the dew came back into the whites of her eyes. For some unknown reason she flung her arms around the drugged body and hugged tight, petting her hair and letting the wet beads roll down.

"I'm sorry, Sheila—Isabel. For all of this to happen to you!"

"What?" The Hispanic giggled more, "Don't be sorry…!"

Mr. Blevins, tall as he was, reached the control panel on the bottom of the suspended television, and pressed the "Power" button.

The screen buzzed with static for a couple seconds as the image clarified into solid shapes and colors, revealing the figure of a busty hedgehog with long adobe orange hair quills and seamless thin spectacles upon bright yellow-brown eyes, wearing a corporate red outfit and carrying a microphone in her hand. She talked into it with an air of concern in the cold atmosphere around her:

"News 10, Christmas Day, December 25th, 2010. We're at the site of a killing here in Avalon."

The view of Shadow's two-story house kicked the poor child back into reality. But instead of giving a blood-curdling yell she only giggled again, receiving the embrace from her true lover's maker and held to her only harder…

"I'm sorry Isabel, dear!"

"…I'm sorry too." The teenager gazed at the moving screen as the reporter spoke,

"Shadow the Hedgehog, a former student in the Senior class at Avalon High, became the sole murderer of eight fellow students, nearly nine at the expense of brutally beating his so-rumored girlfriend Sheila Sasaki. Others have said that this is merely an alias for her true name, which many refused to tell. At approximately 5:45 a.m. a neighbor reported the body, which laid here where I'm standing…"

The patch of grass, still flattened from the foreign weight, and still strewn with blood called upon the girl. _I can't believe I did this…_

"The way how he died still seems under investigation, but it's probable that he committed suicide—

Isabel laughed out loud at this surmise. The other two in the room thought it was another effect of her delirious behavior—

"Sasaki was found beside Sonic, another fellow victim of the Senior class…"

Mr. Blevins raised his voice, "Isabel, dear—

"Yes? Mr. Blevins?"

"Would you consider going under therapy after you fully recover here. Miss Del Castillo?"

Veronica overheard this and turned from the intimacy given from the patient to face the instructor

as the broadcast droned on,

"Therapy?"

"Yes ma'am. Therapy. I've been in contact with a professional. She'll listen to everything this

young woman has to say." Isabel stared at the reporter as if she was retelling a classic fairy tale, oblivious to the man's suggestion.

"Would you like to undergo this help that I'm offering to you, Del Castillo?"

It took her a while to respond, as she was still mesmerized by the flashback of her life,

"Huh? Sure Mr. Blevins, thanks."

Veronica slid her hand through her hair quills and looked back at the spellbound Senior, doubtful of the quick decision, bit the side of her finger but never said a word against it…

All three just stared at the screen for the remainder of the visitation, sporadic with bright colors of the clothing society wore during this traditionally commercial festive time of year. After a minute the female reporter reappeared to make good use of the rising news ratings in this languid, horrid, and highly superficial setting of a holiday,

"As much suffering these people have undergone, we wish that they all someday rise from this… despair—Depression, and restore their lives to live the joy the world has to offer—

_What is this joy that the world has to offer? Love, Love, Love…It really exists within this world... Doesn't it?_

"—For all of them, we—friends, family, and News 10, would like to wish them a Merry Christmas filled with never ending faith… and a Happy New Year."

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END


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